Kim Possible: The Vigilante
by TaleTellerBCB
Summary: Kim Possible & Ron Stoppable leave Middleton for a family Thanksgiving dinner with Kim's aunt. But, trouble is brewing in her Aunt's hometown and Kim's been dragged right into the middle of it. Now they must go on a mission that will put Kim & Ron against some of Gotham's most vile criminals, and clash with a certain vigilante that will push her to the absolute breaking point!
1. A two sided City

The constant hum of the engine could no longer be heard, nor the sound of the constant pitter-patter of the heavy rain hitting against the family car window. She couldn't hear a thing, and that's what she wanted. Kim just wanted to have her own little escape from the world around her in the congested minivan she was forced to be stuck in. She had her pink polyester blanket covering her and her red pillow on the side of her face.

Ron had passed out along with Rufus in the seat in front of hers snoring for the past 6 hours. Jim and Tim were talking about how they could change the weather with just a custom built hand held unit. Her Mother and Father were discussing on how to get to their destination on the map. At the moment she wanted to ignore her environment, she really needed a break from the world, a chance to escape.

Kim decided to play an acoustic song on her Kimmunicator. The strumming of the guitar slowly started to make her doze off into sleep as her eyelids grew heavier and heavier by the second. The world around her started to fade away. Finally she can get some good hours of sleep. No more cheesy songs to pass the time, no more of Jim and Tim annoying her in the back of the car, and especially no more snoring made by Ron and Rufus. Pure bliss was settling in as the guitar strung more and more, making her fall deeper and deeper into sleep.

After what seemed like an eternity her eyes finally closed. Her hand then suddenly vibrated and the song came to a stop as the familiar ringtone rang in her ear. She leaned forward rubbing her eyes softly with her free hand and placed the pillow where it would support her back. She hit the main button on the Kimmunicator and her 10 year old super genius friend appeared on the screen, Wade. Wade was essential to Kim and all of her missions; his intellectual genius was never truly bested, but he surely couldn't have called at a worse time.

"Hey Kim, how's the trip to New Jersey going for you?" Wade asked with a Smile.

"Hey Wade, It's been like all the other long distance drives."

"Same-old, same-old huh? Well, at least you're traveling for Thanksgiving and not for a mission. It's been pretty quiet, like how it was when Shego was tutoring Junior in villainy a while back."

Kim was rather taken back by his statement, Wade was right. The last mission Kim went on was 2 weeks ago; normally she had a mission every few days, if not daily. All desires of rest were now gone with the new enlightenment.

"You're right. Maybe it's because of the holidays or something."

"Doubt it Kim, someone has to be planning something big, it's either that, or your theory of everyone's making sure their food is ready for tomorrow." Wade gave a small chuckle at his comment, and Kim gave a warm smile as well. She pondered on that thought for a second and of the possibility of her doing the same, knowing she won't get a call for a mission during the middle of dinner on that night. Wade cut her track of thought once again.

"So you're visiting your Aunt?"

"That's right my Aunt Caryl, she is a psychiatrist and a rehabilitation expert. She invited us to eat Thanksgiving dinner at her apartment. She comes from my mom's side of the family." Kim replied.

Aunt Caryl was similar to Kim's Mother but pursued a career to help people with mental and psychiatric problems. The last time she saw her aunt was 10 years ago when she lived in North Carolina, and they went to visit her during the Christmas holiday. She was incredibly sweet and caring to her. When she was cold it was her that gave her a warm blanket to wrap around in. She was also the one who secretly gave her a cookie when no one would let her as well. She was considered her favorite relative aside from her Grandmother.

"Oh? I didn't know that you had an Aunt."

"No one really talks about her, even though she's a sweet person."

"Well you just have a Happy Thanksgiving Kim, catch you back at Middleton"

"You rock Wade!" With a press of a button the transmission had ended. Wade had disappeared from the screen of the Kimmunicator and the stringing of the guitar played once more, though to Kim's disappointment she was wide awake now. She laid her head back on the pillow, her eyes blankly staring at the van's ceiling as the rain and the engine hum came back to her noticeable environment.

Kim remembered something though, prior to their journey. Her Aunt Caryl recently moved to New Jersey and a rather big city residing close to Manhattan. Prior she had lived near Uncle Slim back in Montana when she last visited her. Her eyes narrowed and she bit her lip trying hard to remember the name of the city she was now currently on her way towards. She brushed it off as a minor detail for the time being and took notice in the surroundings once more.

Ron and Rufus were still asleep and the tweebs had plugged their earphones in as well. Her Father and Mother now not talking to each other any longer, as her father was focused on the road and her mother was reading a book of hers. Kim looked back up at the unattractive car ceiling and huffed. Pulling her body upwards she leaned forward so her dad could see her in the rear view mirror. Moving her fiery orange hair away from her green eyes she spoke up towards her dad, while unplugging her ear buds.

"Hey Dad, how much longer do we have until we get to Aunt Caryl's new apartment?"

"We have only another 6 hours left Kimmie, do you need to stretch your legs or use the bathroom?"

Kim just shrugged and rolled her eyes slightly, she loved her father with all her heart but sometimes he can be socially awkward at times. She just simply replied,

"No Dad, there's just nothing to do anymore. The bad guys have been doing nothing for the past two weeks. It's almost as pathetic as the time I had all the cheer squad show up late Friday night to practice so I'd have something to do on a Friday night."

Kim's father, James just looked into her daughter's eyes with a warm smile as always. He was always there for Kim since the very beginning, especially back when she and Ron argued about him being the School's Middleton Mad Dog; he was the one who drove her to the convention center to combat Dr. Drakken and his three killer Bee-Bees. Kim's train of thought was broken as he spoke to her once again. His voice was comforting like always, just like her mother's.

"Don't you worry Kimmie-cub we will be at your Aunt's in no time, why not take a nap? I guarantee that it's better than being bored for another 6 to 5 hours at least." James turned his head back to the road.

Kim believed him, boredom was one of the worst things for her. On her missions she always had something to do, keep Ron out of trouble, homework, arrange for another ride to another mission or back home, but this was something new. Struggling to preoccupy herself was making her feel weird on the inside, uncomfortable even. She sat with her legs crossed and looked down thinking about what could possibly be going on with the world. Dr. Drakken, Monkey Fist, Duff Killigan, even Shego, not one villain had been up to anything, why?

She looked back up to the car ceiling almost as if the answer were there. It all made her head hurt and her hand went through her silky red hair scratching her head. She finally decided that she will take her dad's advice and take a nap. She leaned back onto her pillow and pulled the blanket over her shoulder looking back up at the ceiling of the van. Everything seemed wrong about the peacefulness. It was all wrong in her head, she should be fighting Shego, or trying to stop Monkey Fist or someone, even Gemini crossed her mind a few times.

She tossed and turned trying to fight off these thoughts traversing her head, over and over again. An audible "ugh" escaped her lips as she tossed one final time throwing the blanket over her head. Grumbling to herself she took the blanket off her head and turned to the left facing the back of the seats that Ron and Rufus were sleeping in.

She took a dive into her imagination, looking for ideas to see what these villains could be up to, to the point of not doing anything for a solid 2 weeks. Maybe Dr. Drakken had some doomsday laser trouble, or Monkey Fist has been targeting a priceless artifact at some museum, and just can't get to it for some reason, or maybe she was just overthinking everything. What if these 2 weeks were just overly peaceful, no mission, no homework just a whole bunch of free time? No it couldn't be. There had to have been something. There had to have been some master plan by someone that is coming closer into fruition, there just had to be.

She completely stopped thinking, and noticed her eyes had started to become heavy and a yawn came from her lips and lungs. At long last the rest she had desired has finally returned to her. Her eyes slowly closed over her emerald irises and soon she started to relax. The rhythm of the raindrops on the car window finally started to work on her conscious and slowly fell to darkness sounds finally faded into nothing, the rain, the engine hum, all had blended into total silence. Sleep had finally come her total environment had been completely eliminated by her, and Kim couldn't have been more at peace with that fact. Sleep had finally taken her.

Kim had felt a sudden poke to her shoulder and even on her cheek. Groaning she awoke from her slumber. Hair all messed up and eyes heavier than normal and her head now hazy. She looked up at the one responsible for her disturbance, his spiked forward blonde hair and freckles, along with his brown eyes had looked deep into hers. Ron and Rufus both were hanging their head from the back of the seats they were once sleeping on and were staring at her, annoying Kim greatly, and with haste she spoke.

"Ron, what is it?"

"We are at the hotel KP, and you were out for a long time." Kim had grown wide eyed and shot up from lying down to sitting straight up observing her new surroundings and. She looked around and the field and rain she had last saw had been replaced to snow, people, city blocks, and cars that were passing each other slowly. Occasionally there would be a honk or two and many people in massive groups would walk across the cold streets huddled in their jackets to keep from getting cold. Skyscrapers towered around her with lights illuminating the night sky with a slightly gothic design. She turned around to notice bellhops wearing red uniforms taking carts full of luggage inside a massive two towered building. One of the bellhops was shaking her father's hands with a smile on both of their faces. Turning to her right she found an empty trunk where all the suitcases were already unpacked from the car. Kim held her forehead with her fingertips and looked back to her best friend.

"Ron, how long have I been asleep?" she asked with concern.

"Kim you were asleep for the past 7 hours. The traffic here is horrible too and you missed Bueno Nacho, no one misses out on Naco's! At least the people are nice here." Ron exclaimed. Rufus just gave a small nod and a concerned look on his little mole rat face. Kim looked around once more. She noticed her father was approaching the van and went around to the open trunk towards them both. Jim, Tim and her mother were all standing by the revolving glass door.

"Kimmie, it is time to get up, we got valet parking."

Kim grabbed her pillow and blanket and waiting for Ron to move. She slowly crawled from her spot as her muscles ached from being in the back of the S.U.V. She was wide awake and didn't catch the time. The bellhop approached the door of the van and closed it. He turned around and bowed to her with a tip of the cap his almost hiding his dark skin and smile.

With glee he stated, "Thank you for choosing the Grand Royal Hotel here in the Diamond District of our great city." Kim smiled at him and nodded back, at least Ron was right about the people here they were nice.

She didn't want to imagine her Aunt moving to a city where the people here were awful and rude to one another, like the stereotype of people from New Jersey claimed. She turned to head towards her family and best friend awaiting her, but turned around towards the bellhop once more as he was unlocking the door to the van. She stepped onto the ice cold pavement of the road and trembled for a bit before taking more steps out to the street intending on meeting back with the Bellhop.

"Excuse me Sir?"

"Yes, Miss Possible?" he asked. Kim was taken back for a second, he knew her last name.

"Wait, how did you know my last name?"

"I'm sorry Miss; I just assumed that man was your father who introduced himself." The now concerned young man replied.

"Oh, that's okay I'm sorry for troubling you. Do you know the time?" The bellhop pulled back his red sleeve from his white glove and looked at his silver watch carefully.

"It's around 12:15 A.M. miss" he replied. Kim's eyes shot out wide. The last she check the time was when she talked to wade, and that was around 5:32 P.M. She placed her hands on her forehead as reality rushed back towards her, it was then she remembered that her feet were on the ice cold pavement of the street and jumped back on the sidewalk, which to her was a bit dirty. She waved back at bellhop as he drove the van to the parking garage. Reuniting with the group Kim she and they all went to the elevator and entered pressing the 24th button as Jim and Tim noticed.

"Wow dad, the 24th floor?" Tim asked.

"I can't wait to see the city from that high up, maybe we can test our new weather control device from up there!" Jim said.

"Boys, there will be no weather altering while we're here. Aunt Caryl paid for it so you boys remember to thank her, and that goes for you to Kim."

"You got it Dad." Kim responded.

"Thanks for letting me tag along as well Doctor P. My family had that sudden work trip they had to take and their thankful as well." Ron had been the victim to his family taking abrupt and random leaves of absence far too many times. Them leaving was their way of telling him they will be gone all of thanksgiving and Ron would have the house to himself. Normally this would have been a great week for Ron, but the house to him for all Thanksgiving break with no food to be cooked on that next Thursday would have been quite the inconvenience. Kim looked at him with a smirk; she always knew Ron and Rufus seemed to get the shortest straw of the bunch in life all the time, even when he got lucky. But they made the most of it. Rufus sat in his pocket, yawning once more at time wore on and on.

What seemed like an eternity, they all arrived at the 24th floor of the Grand Hotel, and the hallways were immaculate. A crimson carpet with mahogany wall panels covered the surrounding area. Chandeliers illuminated the hallway beautifully almost as beautiful as the chandeliers were themselves, fake glass diamonds hung from them and they had 28 light bulbs that were shaped like a candle lit flame around its 3 rings, 16 on the first ring, 8 on the middle, and 4 on the top.

Kim followed her best friend and family down the hallway as her father searched for their rooms. They all agreed that the boys would sleep in one room and the girls would sleep in the room across from theirs. Kim couldn't help but be awestruck by all the rich equipment and the amazing detail all in just a hotel, she wondered if the rest of the city was treated like this. The city that she still couldn't remember where she was at.

She drew a small breath to ask the question. Hesitating however, she decided to hold it off until tomorrow. As they walked her eyes became heavier the soft carpet on her soles warmed her feet and her body became light, wanting only nothing but to sleep once more. She was snapped to reality, away from her descent to rest by the sound of her father next to what appeared to be two mahogany doors. There were Champagne gold plaques on both doors reading the numbers 513 and 514.

"Here we are, now the girls are in room 513 and were in 514 boys. You two get some rest and we should do the same after unpacking."

"Have a good night dear." Mrs. Possible then gave her husband a kiss on the cheek as both parties went into their rooms. Kim waved bye and said goodnight to Ron who did the same and saw Rufus give a lazy wave as he fell asleep in Ron's pocket. Afterwards Kim was the first to walk in the room after Ann got the key letting her daughter in first. Kim was shocked to see the luxury of the room. It was simple two white queen sized beds were even spaced in the small corner, a flat screen T.V. was in front of them and next to mahogany desk and leather office chair to the left. To the right of the television was a small black fridge. Twin windows covered by white curtains to match the bed popped out from the dirt brown carpet where their suitcases laid next to their beds. Kim turned to her mother who was locking the door.

"Uh Mom, how much did Aunt Caryl pay for all this?" Ann giggled slightly. Looking towards her daughter who was tired still wrapped in her blanket holding her pillow. Her hair all a mess and her eyes slightly heavy.

"Sweetheart, My sister makes almost as I do being a psychiatrist, in fact she probably makes much more so she can afford it, she has been so busy here and lonely since her Ex-husband divorced her." Kim didn't really remember Aunt Caryl's husband at all, she barely saw him. Though she did remember why they got divorced. Her Ex-husband was no way by any means a decent man, drug dealer, alcoholic, and the final straw came when she found out he was cheating on Aunt Caryl, after that Kim didn't even bat an eye towards that man ever again. She hated those kinds of people, even if she had to save a few of them on certain occasions she still had a massive disgust towards them. Lost in her train of thought she noticed her mother had already changed into her pajamas and started to fall asleep.

Kim just took a deep breath and went for the bed but stopped and took a look at the window. It was the 24th floor would be silly not to take in the view before we leave for home the day after tomorrow. She moved the curtains to the left and took in the sight, the city lights danced around the clouded sky, a constant rotational pirouette, where some signal lights crossed paths while others seemed to do everything they could to not collide. Kim with her arms crossed holding her elbows rested on the sight watching everything the city sky had to offer, planes taking off, city lights and massive skyscrapers. One thing stood out though a massive building with the letter "W" on the tip on par with the biggest of towers. This particular building must have been at least 50 or 75 stories high underneath the letter read, "Wayne Enterprises", she tilted her head to the side to try and think about who exactly owned such a massive tower and who was Wayne?

Her train of thought did not last long as she soon yawned and closed the window retreating to the bed next towards her mother's. She stopped as she felt the blankets; they were made of a soft fleece texture as she played around with it with her fingers admiring how much this one hotel has spent just to have each and every one of their guests have an incredible experience, and this experience so far was satisfying. There are plenty of hotels and places to stay where they cut short on giving their guests the desired experience, but this hotel was surely not one of them. She yawned again and crawled into bed, the softness of her pillow and the blanket fully encasing her comfortably, warming her from the brutal cold of the outside. The last thing she sees before falling asleep was looking at the digital clock between her and her mother's bed, it read 12:43 A.M.

Kim's eyes moved once more as she groaned, reawakening from her deep slumber. She had pretty much passed out after crawling in the bed. The first thing she noticed was her mother was not in her bed, but what she did notice was the bathroom light beside the door, her mother must have let her sleep in a bit before getting herself ready for the day. Kim then looked at the clock as it read 10:23 A.M. and she then finally rose from her bed sitting on the edge closest to the window and peered at it slightly. This made her get up from the bed walking towards it noticing it looks more grey and lifeless.

She saw nothing but a dull grey sky, covered with storm clouds. Kim raised a brow and reached for the Kimmunicator she placed on the desk next to the clock last night. She pulled up a map of New Jersey and notice that there were storms coming from the Atlantic taking up most of the eastern seaboard. Placing the Kimmunicator back down she decided to get dressed. She dug through her suitcase for the same black dress she had on when she had the modulator's accidentally placed the back of her neck. It still fit and it still hugged her curves tightly but it was a good looking dress for thanksgiving, if they were going anywhere else, she probably wouldn't have worn it. After all this was a family dinner with her Aunt, and no one would have the ability to gawk at her. She then took notice that her mother was wearing something similar, a white dress with a black belt around her waist, and a sapphire necklace that matched her eyes. Kim looked at her funny in response and couldn't hold the question back any longer

"Mom, where did you get that outfit?" Ann turned to her daughter and couldn't help but laugh and twirl some like a young girl.

"You like it? I got it for a discount at the Mall in that Black & White store, and the necklace was a present from your father on our anniversary!" Ann couldn't help but smile as she looked at herself in the mirror in the bathroom. Kim smiled as well, the outfit was a great choice and it was perfect for her mother. Better than that purple dress she always wears to such occasions. Both women were interrupted by a knock at the door. Kim found Ron and Rufus fitted nicely with a simple black dress shirt with dark jeans. Kim's eyes yet again shot out wide, never has she seen Ron or Rufus dress in a manner such as this, normally it would have been his normal outfit from school, but he actually dressed up and looks nice. Kim leaned against the door side and had a smug look on her face.

"Since when did you dress up like that?" Ron just gave Kim another sarcastic look.

"Since I was going to ask Mary-Gary-Ono out!"

"And that was…?" Kim asked.

"Still working on it." Ron let his head lay low with an upset sigh. Kim couldn't help but laugh. Poor Ron always wanted to try and get her attention back at school, but never was able to catch her eye. She simply put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Hey come on now; why not finally give it a try when we get back from break?" Ron looked up to Kim and smiled. She always had his back in the toughest situations. While dealing with women was never Ron's strong suit, he certainly never gave up, and to Kim he was the best sidekick she could ask her. He has gotten her out of many sticky situations. She especially remembers the time when she was held captive by Gill and nearly mutated, and it was Ron who defeated him.

Kim overheard the opening of both doors of rooms 513 & 514\. Compliments were exchanged by the group and they headed back down the luxurious hallway. Kim looked to her left noticing the dark and lifeless sky, a few flashes of thunder and lightning echoed and it caught Ron's eye as well. Both crime fighters had felt an uncomfortable presence in the air, as if the luxury comfort of the hotel hid a dark and terrible secret that made shivers crawl up their spines. Ron finally spoke up breaking the eerie silence.

"KP, why does it all the sudden feel… different from last night?"

"You know Ron, I feel that too, and I don't like it." Rufus had been checking his surroundings almost as if his animal instincts had been warning him of the malicious yet invisible force. The three approached the same gold colored elevator they used last night. Kim hesitated, something in the back of her mind told her not to step foot on that elevator. It seemed sinister in her mind, as if it were a death trap of some kind. Her hand approached her temple and rubbed it slightly. Jim and Tim were the first to notice this unusual behavior.

"Hey you okay Kim?" Tim asked, Jim then followed up.

"Yeah you don't look so good."

Kim had only been standing still for what was a few seconds but to her it seemed like ten minutes. Kim the entered the elevator, her heart pounding a bit more as the golden doors slowly closed. She then felt a hand on her shoulder, it belonging to her mother.

"Kimmie? Do you have a headache? I can go back up and get some medicine if you'd like?"

"No-no, I'm fine mom it was nothing, thank you though." She could no longer feel her mother's hand, yet then the same malicious feeling coaxing the crime fighting team had been haunting in the back of their minds. As if everything around them had some evil intention to harm one another. She decided to shake off those hallucinations; she thought that of it as another side effect for not having a mission for 2 weeks. With that mind set her attitude readjusted and everything seemed to be more welcoming and calm in appearance.

The elevator chimed and the golden doors then opened up to the lobby. Kim walked straight to the city streets along with Ron and Rufus, all three looking straight up into the storm infested skies. She noticed the people on the streets seemed to change entirely as well, they seemed bitter and unsocial. Kim just blew it off as people who didn't like to get out of bed in the morning. Ron then broke the train of thought as he noticed something in the distance.

"Hey Kim, you see that really tall building out in the distance, the one that read 'Wayne Enterprises', Who owns that?"

"Don't know Ron, probably some big time bureaucrat." They both had looked at the exquisite detail presented within its structure, Kim did realize it last night but the building was good candy for the eye. The tower mimicked the shape of the Empire State Building from New York City, but with a dark gray material composing of the towers body. The massive 'W' seemed modern in design, easy to remember but stood out in the grand scheme of things. From Kim seeing it at night, it lights up a distinctive ice blue color that most high end cars used in their headlights.

Soon the family Van pulled up with everyone in the car Kim was a bit taken back by how she didn't realize them getting the car, maybe they were too distracted by their environment. The two simply entered into the Van and Mr. Possible drove to their destination, Kim just sat in the back of the Van once more and played with her Kimmunicator. She searched through the internet looking for some sign of trouble that was caused by anyone, Monkey Fist, Dr. Drakken, Dementor… she didn't care she just wanted something to occupy herself. The more pages she looked for the more unaware she became of how close she was to her destination. She noticed that the car engine had stopped and that everyone was unbuckling their seat belts. Kim then heard her father's voice acknowledging that they arrived.

"We're here everyone, now remember best behavior, and that goes for you boys."

Kim had ignored what her father said to look at the current building that her Aunt must be residing in. It was a typical twenty story building that only held decent sized apartments. She looked at the revolving doors and what seemed to be more luxurious in taste, obscuring its rough appearances outside of the building. Kim had just followed the others outside of the car, as they entered; she again took in the luxuries of the lobby. She then noticed that her Father had approached the man behind the mahogany desk.

"Excuse me sir, I'm Brother in Law of Miss Caryl O'Malley. She lives in this apartment complex." The large man, sporting his dirty red uniform and 5 o'clock shadow, put his newspaper down and started to pick at his teeth with a weak toothpick. To both Kim and her Father's surprise, this individual didn't show the same gratitude as many other of the citizens they ran into.

"Like I haven't heard that one before, look buddy if you're trying to see Ms. O'Malley, then you should've made an appointment; if you're not here for an appointment then you can get back on the street." Kim couldn't help but glare at the rather large man, and the same went for her father. Before he could speak up, Ann had already stepped in. Ann had given a cold stare to the man and spoke up. Kim noticed the hiss in her mother's voice that rarely came out, the last time she remembered her being this upset was when Prince Wally had visited Middleton. Ann's eyes darted towards the rather obese and large rounded man glaring at his stained name tag.

"Look...Boe; I'm Caryl's sister, Ann Possible. Now then let's try this one more time, please notify Ms. O'Malley, my sister, that her relatives are here and waiting for her downstairs."

"Ma'am how dense do I look, either you make an appointment or you leave before I have security throw you out." Ann's teeth were gritting, her face getting enraged by the man behind the desk. Ron looked at him coldly as well as Kim. Rufus growling for the moment had stopped to notice a woman exit the elevator. She had a similar body type to the Ann's, curvy yet petite. Her red dress showed off curves that stopped right above her calves and brought out her diamonds around her wrists and neck. Her short brunette hair spiked out and yet was neat and orderly, matched a similar shape to Ann's hair. She was beautiful, but the only thing that was taking beauty away, was the scowl on her face. She hastily approached the front desk, the heavy clip-clop of her black high heels quickly took everyone's notice. Her hand slammed down on the desk her voice speaking out. Boe instantly lost concentration towards Ann in shock.

"That's enough Boe! If I ever catch you treating my family like that again, it will be your ass out on the street! Have I made myself crystal clear?" Boe instinctively backed off the glare that was being shared to the Possible Family turned into fear and remorse. Submissively he bowed his head in disappointment, speaking in a lighter softer tone.

"My apologies Ms. O'Malley, It won't happen again." He pushed his chair back, allowing her some space. Ann couldn't help but hug her sister, throwing Caryl off guard a bit. Though she embraced her sister in return. Kim's mood had changed completely she was excited to see her aunt after what must have been a decade. Only now did she see how beautiful of a woman she was, just like her mother. It was strange that she was still considered single. Aunt Caryl had finished speaking with her Sister and had acknowledged Kim's Father already and approached the rest of the group. She marveled at how big Jim and Tim had gotten, and hugged them, the last time she saw them they were in diapers and now their 10 years old. She then glanced towards Kim, her eye gleaming with excitement. Not wasting anytime she hugged Kim, with her returning the hug to her aunt.

"Oh my god, is that my little niece? You've certainly gotten a lot bigger, the last time I saw you was when you were 7 and now look at you! You've grown up to be a fine young woman, just as pretty as your mother." Aunt Caryl couldn't help but hug Kim once more, this time much tighter, Kim understood why, it's been 10 long years since she saw her. She then noticed Ron and raised a brow. She stood up, looking at Ron for an extended period of time, her fingers coiling her chin and her arm coiled around her waist. It was like she was examining him. She then looked back at Kim, a smug look on her face emerged.

"Kim, who is your friend here?"

"Aunt Caryl, This is Ron." Ron waved his hand and said hello back. Rufus then said high as well. Caryl paid little attention to the Naked Mole Rat but didn't find it weird but intriguing.

"Boyfriend perhaps? Awful daring of you to bring him along on a family trip, well he's a fine catch and it's rather interesting to be carrying a rodent in his pocket." Both Kim and Ron's face went crimson red. Ron in shock of the statement lost the ability to think and speak straight and could only mutter out small words. Kim then shot back.

"Aunt Caryl! He's just a really good friend; he isn't my boyfriend at all!" Kim's face tried to return to normal, but still embarrassed by the statement. To her surprise, Aunt Caryl just laughed. She then stopped laughing and took a small breath.

"Oh Kimmie, I'm just playing around, I just wanted to see how you'd react and I was right, embarrassed and seriously flustered, like any girl would react!" Kim couldn't believe her aunt and just sighed with a huff, crossing of her arms. Ron returned to his normal self and started to chuckle acknowledging Aunt Caryl's joke, further annoying Kim. She elbowed him in the arm and as usual held his arm rubbing it after with an "Ow!"

Aunt Caryl had then led everyone to the elevator and pressed the number 20. Slowly they arrived at the 20th floor only sporting 4 doors around the complex. After unlocking the door to room 200 everyone entered the room, it was a luxurious apartment with a modern day style and an amazing view of the Diamond District. Not wasting any time, Caryl had shown everyone their seats at the dinner table mimicking a circle, which was close to the windows showing to the city. Kim had sat next to her mother who sat next to her aunt, while the boys followed after James and Ron.

The dinner table was stacked with delicious foods, from Turkey and stuffing to apple pie and wine. It didn't take long for everyone to start putting food on their plates, and to begin feasting. Kim had then noticed a noise behind her, it was familiar. The slow but easily recognizable pitter patter of raindrops against her windows. Kim didn't think of it, and thought of it nothing and continued to eat. James spoke up striking the first conversation.

"This is an extremely nice apartment Caryl, it's amazing."

"Thank you James, it's all been due to my work becoming a bit more rigorous this past year and a lot of help from other organizations I've been working with."

"That's right Caryl you've become one of the best Psychiatrists in the nation!" Ann admired her sister for such an amazing ability to deal with many people with many problems that they alone couldn't deal with themselves. It was this same characteristic that Kim admired about her aunt as well. Though Kim caught something about what her Aunt said. As a Psychiatrist her job should be all too hard and rigorous as she is claiming, it made her think. What could make her job more difficult?

Other conversations stirred during dinner, such as the girl's outfits and even how Kim was a crime fighting teen hero recognized worldwide. As the feast came to a close the heavier the storm had become. Thunder and lightning had struck every so often. Kim then along with her mother and aunt had gotten up to clean their dishes. The two of them struck a conversation mostly about work, though Kim was silent the whole time still worried about past pressures. 2 weeks no missions, her aunt's work somehow beginning to be more challenging and why she couldn't focus on one thing at a time. Her left hand rubbed her temple once more grunting to herself. Caryl immediately caught this. She placed a hand on her niece's back and looked at her with a caring eye.

"Is something wrong Kimmie? You're rubbing your temples and you seem stressed over something." Kim just sighed and looked out the window, her aunt clearly categorizing this in her mind as unusual behavior for her niece. This was nothing like Kim, she was usually confident and strong willed, and something must be bothering her, something that she hadn't spoken to anyone yet. Aunt Caryl approached her niece and sat on an ottoman near the window. Her hand then patted next to her signifying to Kim to sit next to her. Kim complied and sat next to her aunt placing her hair behind her ear. Taking in a deep breath to then speak to her aunt.

"Thanks Aunt Caryl, I've been bothered lately by the fact that I haven't had to help anyone out or save the world for the past 2 weeks. Normally I'd have something to do, homework, save the world from the bad guys, even a date with a cute boy, but it's been nothing these past 2 weeks. I feel as if i need to be somewhere stopping someone. Maybe I'm just overthinking things or something, I don't know." Caryl just placed a hand on her leg. Speaking with a soft caring tone, almost that of Kim's mother.

"That's totally fine Kim, I understand how you feel. You have this need to help others and having to take a short break for a while has had a small negative effect on you. Though sometimes you need to take a small break. To recharge your batteries and be able to take on bigger challenges than before. Just consider it a blessing sweetie you more than well deserve it." Kim couldn't help but hug her aunt in response. Everything she told her was true. She then understood why she was a respected Psychiatrist. After a while, Kim then looked out this window, aunt Caryl noticed once again knowing full well that Kim had something else on her mind.

"Kim what else is on your mind?"

"This city is so misleading, last night we arrived and the people were nice and the skies were illuminated by spot lights and skyscrapers, but now it's turned bitter, its people, its entire atmosphere, like this place has two different sides to one another."

"Don't think too much about it Kim, soon you will be back home tomorrow in no time." Aunt Caryl then faced the window, the thunder and lightning reflecting the change in attitude, Kim took noticed of this and grew concerned. It was almost as if the two's roles in conversation had just been reversed. Aunt Caryl gazed out past the glass; her eyes locking on to the city that was being surrounded by countless booms of thunder. Kim asked if she was okay and Caryl responded with a simple nod she stood up to walk away then turned her head looking over her shoulders the same scowl from before when she dealt with Boe. Kim was anxious wanting to hear at least something. Her wish was granted with one sentence.

"After all, there really is no place on Earth quite as vicious as Gotham."


	2. Gotham City Royalty

"Oh, that's right we're in Gotham!" Kim's hand went straight for her forehead with a loud slap. She couldn't believe she had completely forgotten about where she was. Through the bolts of lightning Caryl had heard her. She tried to contain her small giggles with her fingertips over her red lips. Forcing Kim to crack up with a smile of embarrassment.

"How did you forget where you were Kimmie? Did Gotham already mess with your head?" Caryl joked around making the girls have a laugh. Ann overheard the conversation and was listening through the corner that led to the kitchen. She felt relieved, she had been afraid that Kim would have grown a bit distant with her sister since it had been a decade since they last spoke to her.

At that time Ann and Caryl were arguing over Caryl's husband, needless to say, their relationship as sisters grew heated and distant. It only solidified as Caryl divorced him months later. It had always haunted her mind, though if it were not for a random call in the middle of the night that rekindled their sibling love a few years back Ann wouldn't be here.

"This city is so big, how come I've barely heard of it Aunt Caryl?"

Caryl's giggles suddenly faded away and became a sigh of frustration. This question was very common for her, but a question one she never liked to answer. Kim instantly regretted asking, as it seemed to as more stress than she really could handle. She was Gotham's number one Psychiatrist and Rehabilitation expert; it must have been a very heavy burden to handle. Finally, the silence was broken.

"Kim, Gotham isn't exactly a friendly place. To be honest, there is no real reason for me staying here, except for the amazing pay that I'm receiving from Blackgate. I have wanted to move back closer to you and the rest of your family for so long. What I'm trying to say is that I don't want you getting hurt here and only be here as much as necessary. People with connections have power, and when all of that is said and done it doesn't help that crime is through the roof. Only the strong survive in Gotham, it's a dog eat dog world." Caryl looked behind her shoulder eyeing the window as the rain droplets hit heavily against it. She placed her hand against its cold smooth surface her palm feeling the leftover force of each drop of rain that collided against it.

"This city deserves so much more."

Ann felt conflicted that her sister was going through the pain she has been. She deserved so much better, and she definitely could get exactly that in Middleton. A nice guy to settle down with and raise a family with and be close to her direct family as well. No doubt she could easily get a position at the Middleton Hospital with the reputation she had. Unknowingly Kim felt the same. Kim placed her hand on her aunt's shoulder beaming a warm smile.

"Maybe I can help a bit Aunt Caryl. It can't be too bad, right? I've handled plenty of bad guys and super freaks before, so not the drama!" Caryl just hugged her niece and Kim hugged back, making Ann tear up a bit. Aunt Caryl soon got up from her spot and walked towards the living room where Jim and Tim were discussing their weather controlling hand-held unit once more. Concentration was broken for everyone with a sudden ring of the phone. Caryl looked towards it though her expression was that of cold stone. Walking towards the phone she picked it up knowing exactly who it was and what they would want, with a sigh, she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Yes, Commissioner? I can't tonight; I'm with family for Thanksgiving dinner… I know the agreement placed in my contract at Blackgate but have some common sense…"

Ron had rejoined Kim right eavesdropping on the phone conversation; they looked at each other confused and worried that something might be wrong at this Blackgate place. Rufus even poked out of his pocket and looked oddly at Caryl who held the phone close to her person in a weak pose of sorts. A loud sigh erupted from Caryl as she rubbed her temples once again. Ann and James heard this as well and peaked from over the kitchen after completing the dishes for Caryl.

"Fine… I'll be there in a hour." she sighed. Caryl slammed the phone down ending the heated call. Ann and Kim grew sick of seeing their relative in such a position and came to her aid. Ann, however, raised her hand at her daughter, wanting to take care of the ordeal by herself. Kim obliged and returned to Ron.

"Caryl is everything okay?" Ann asked.

"No, that was the GCPD Commissioner, the bastard wants me to go to Blackgate and evaluate some more individuals, even if I've already met quota last week and on a holiday. He's a prick."

"Is there anything we can do to make things better?" Ann asked, but Caryl just smiled shook her head.

"No, I will be fine Ann thank you so much though. Hey, I have an idea, why not we all go out to this nice little restaurant I go to for special occasions? It's the Le Bernardin, a seafood restaurant that is close to the Wayne Enterprises building, you know the big tower with the "W"? It's amazing!"

"Sure thing Caryl! Should we make reservations for say 4:00 P.M.?"

"That will be perfect!" With that Caryl hopped on her laptop near her brown leather computer back and made reservations. Smiling she closed her laptop and placed it in her bag. Kim handed her umbrella as she sighed once more.

"Sorry about this everyone… I will make it up tomorrow!"

"Come on boys, were heading back." James echoed as Jim and Tim finished their conversation and headed to the door. Kim followed and Ron followed after. Kim felt more concerned now than ever. Why would the Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department request Aunt Caryl back to Blackgate on a day that she wanted off to spend time with family? It made no sense to her whatsoever, though there really is nothing she could do about it, so Kim decided to suck it up for now. There may yet be an opportunity for her to help somehow, and maybe this could ease her tension on having no missions for the past 2 weeks.

As they entered the elevator Aunt Caryl was making sure she had everything she needed for a quick session back at Blackgate. Ron and Rufus were looking around the elevator enjoying the music. Tim and Jim showed signs of exhaustion as they yawned. James and Ann were consulting with Caryl, wondering if this sort of thing was a common occurrence.

Kim was yet again trapped in her mind, ignoring her surroundings, what's worse was that dark unknown force was creeping at her skin again. Her hands traveled up her arms as if her hands alone cleansed her body from this malicious feeling, she was sick of it. This city had done something to her while she had been admiring it for a short time, something poisonous. Kim had no choice but to fight it off till they got back to the royal hotel once again. The elevator had finally stopped breaking Kim from the haunting cage that was her own mind. Her eyes darted around and last landed on Boe, who was reading a comic book. His red eyes darted up and looked with concern. He noticed the same scowl on Caryl's face.

"You gotta be kiddin' me? Commissioner Loeb called you again? I mean, I know I can be a jerk sometimes, but Loeb is a piece of crap, hope it goes well." Boe chuckled as his eyes darted back to his comic book. Ann took notice of this and couldn't help but look back at Boe a bit confused.

"That was different," Ann commented.

"Boe said it himself, he can be a pain. At least he is man enough to admit it."

"Yeah if you can call that a man?" Ron commented as they entered the outside world through the revolving door. Rufus had a chuckle with Ron's comment and so did Kim, she was glad some humor can be sent out at least as it helped keep this dark feeling away. Everyone then said their goodbyes to Aunt Caryl as they parted ways. James pulled the family van back up as Caryl's cab drove away going west. Kim then was the first to enter the Van followed by Ron, and then by Jim and Tim with Ann in last, everyone was covered in raindrops on their clothing. Ann was the first to break the silence.

"She deserves so much better. Wonder who this Commissioner person is, he had better give my sister a break or I ought to give him a piece of my mind." Ann threatened.

"I know, didn't sound very nice when he was on the phone with Caryl." James replied. This made Kim lighten up with an idea. She reached for her handbag that she had brought with her and pulled out her Kimmunicator, pressing the main button instantly patching through to Wade. As She expected he was about to bite into a cheeseburger and next to him was a medium sized soft drink from Cow'n'Chow, wearing the same old blue short-sleeve shirt.

"Wade, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure Kim what's up?" Wade asked.

"Can you look up everything associated with the words Blackgate and Gotham?" With a few strokes of his keyboard, Wade had everything he needed. He squinted at his main screen making sure he was reading everything right. Ron and Rufus scooted closer intrigued with what Wade would find.

"Okay, it says here that Blackgate Penitentiary is located off of Gotham Bay and was once known as Gotham State Penitentiary, but it closed down in the 80's due to the crime rate being too low to where all criminals left would be apprehended at the GCPD. However, after being condemned by Amnesty International, it was forced to shut down. It reopened in the 90's due to crime spikes and ever since it's been steady. Blackgate is under control of Gotham City Police Department's Commissioner Gillian Loeb, who has some surprising political power and authority." Wade replied.

"Why would a Police Commissioner need any form of political power?" Ron asked. Kim looked back at Ron and then towards Wade. Ron was by far no highly intellectual being, but Kim had to admit, it was a good question. Wade continued to scan his computer screen finding not so great info.

"Looks like he is in league with The Mayor of Gotham City and someone by the name of Carmine Falcone, but both are viewed as powerful individuals within Gotham's Underworld though." Kim made a frustrated sigh followed by a facepalm. She knew what that meant, instantly connecting that her Aunt was under the thumb of a greedy corrupt Police Commissioner. Thankfully Ann didn't overhear this. Having her mother freak out about her sister was the last thing Kim wanted on this trip.

"Come on Wade, any good news?" Kim silently begged. Wade responded with a few more strokes of the keyboard.

"Well, it also mentions that The Mayor of Gotham won't be running for very much longer, he is getting impeached for aiding drug transportation in and out of the city with the help of the Falcone's, and making Loeb turn a blind eye. That's not the weird part though."

Kim's hand went straight to her head in frustration. Whenever Wade gave any sort of unusual Intel, the word "weird" was used often. She was in no mood for anything "weird". Ron saw this too and also showed a sign of stress. Rufus just stuck his tongue out. Wade frowned taking no pleasure in giving the news to Kim. With a deep breath, he decided to just let out with his words and get over it.

"There are two other individuals that it barely talks about. Crime lords that are not only challenging each other but the Falcone's, and taking ground from him." Kim looked confused. With what she had just learned, it seemed that Carmine Falcone was invincible, he had the city's government and their police force under his thumb, but now he is losing ground from two new crime lords? Kim just looked at Ron, and then thought to what Aunt Caryl said. Only the strong survive in Gotham.

"So who are they?" Kim asked.

"I can't find anything about them… I'll do some more digging and get back to you." Kim's Kimmunicator went black, as Wade ended his transmission. Kim groaned, now more frustrated after than before calling Wade. So far this trip had been a downward spiral, from not having any missions for two weeks, to know figuring out that her Aunt is trapped in a city full of corruption with no escape. Ron knew this as well and just placed his hand on Kim, taking her by surprise. This was one of many reasons why he was her best friend.

"Hey no worries, we will find a way to get your Aunt out of that mess." Rufus just gave Kim a thumbs up and a big smile. Kim couldn't help but hug Ron with Ron soon returning the hug. The whole ordeal though had made them both oblivious to the fact they were back at the Grand Royal Hotel. Ron and Kim just looked at each other and blushed for a short moment, Ron allowed Kim to get out of the van first.

The family ran inside as James handed the keys to the valet. Jim and Tim had rushed to the elevator wanting nothing more than to finalize the designs on their handheld weather control device. Ann and James were right behind them with James' hand over her shoulders on her opposite arm. Ron and Rufus waited for Kim who held her head low. Her mind trapped with images of her Aunt doing things that she was being forced to do. Though nothing too dark, it still made her feel uncomfortable even without the dark malicious feeling that would normally creep up on her from time to time. No wonder why no one wanted to be here, this city changes you for the worse.

She has trapped in her mind again, wanting nothing more than the peace she had from the car trip coming here to this godforsaken city. All she wanted to do was get some sleep and it wouldn't take much longer for her. As James and Ann exchanged another kiss the boys had gone back to their room of 514, Kim just collapsed on her bed and looked out the window it covered in raindrops. Lighting and thunder echoed through the city as Ann had changed to her pajamas. Looking over her shoulder she noticed Kim still didn't change and was just lying down on her bed facing the window.

"Kimmie? Everything okay why haven't you changed yet?" Ann asked her daughter, her obvious tone of concern sank deep into Kim's mind. Struggling to either keep it a secret or break this news to her mother. On one end her mother could try and provide some form of help towards Aunt Caryl, though she would freak finding out she is in a gridlock of corrupted officials. Option two would leave her mother completely in the dark about the whole situation. Kim was no fan of deceiving her mother, just like she did to cover up her lies back on Halloween in Middleton when she was stuck with the Centurion Project body armor. Kim had just grunted forcing her face into her pillow. She then felt her weight shift to her left as her eyes barely revealed themselves to her mother who looked down at her daughter.

"Kim?" Kim bit her lips the pressure building inside and followed an old gut instinct.

"Sorry mom, I just have a major migraine for some reason."

"Oh okay, let me get you some medicine." Ann quickly got up and went to the bathroom. Kim's hand swiftly went to her forehead, cursing herself for lying to her mother. Her mind juggled with possible ways to safeguard herself for regret. She didn't want to see her mother react to her sister under the thumb of Gotham's most corrupt, especially if she has any small connections to one of the city's biggest crime lords.

Kim's mother had soon returned holding a blue pill in her palm and a small cup of water in her right. Kim had simply taken both from her mother, eying the cerulean pill in her hand. She thought of it as a symbol of the consequences she would face in her near future for fooling her mother. She closed her eyes and downed the pill, with a quick shot of water, feeling it go down her throat. Her mind did start to slow down, finally sensing her body starting to relax, her eyes becoming heavy with each passing second. Soon her eyes shut and the gift of the night had befallen her. Kim had fallen right to sleep.

Ron and Rufus were surprisingly the first of the men to wake up the next morning, as Gotham's morning light had just begun to show from the skyscrapers. She looked out the window and back to James, and the twins. He snuck silently towards the all-white bathroom. Looking at himself in the mirror, but instead of his cheering attitude, he showed discord. Rufus had crawled out of his pocket instantly figuring out what was wrong as the two started a conversation.

"You know Rufus, I really feel bad about Kim's Aunt. No one should have to deal with stuff like that; we've got to help Kim out! The question is how? Rufus scratched the back of his bald head with his claws his little minds gears and cogs turning with every thought. Ron's fingers snapped catching Rufus's attention.

"We should talk to Aunt Caryl as much as we can see if we can get any dirt on these guys… wait what were their names again? Wait don't tell me. It was... ugh it was that Officer guy um..." Rufus just let out a grunt towards Ron with disappointment in his little face. Before Ron's brain could focus on the name, a knock was heard on the bathroom door. The voice of James had appeared from behind the door in a weak state. Ron could obviously tell that Mr. Possible had just woken up and needed to use the restroom as he did as well.

"Ronald, are you alright in there?"

"Uh yeah, sorry Doctor P, I will be out in a second!" Ron gently picked up Rufus and put him on his shoulder, a defeated look on his face was evident as he hesitated to even open the door for a slight second. As he entered the main room James just gave him a warm smile and walked into the bathroom starting the shower. Now trapped in his mind, Ron collapsed in bed once more trying to make sense of everything that had happened the night before. How could a close friend's family member get sucked in by all of this? Ron grunted as he grabbed the nearest pillow and slammed it into his face groaning. The boys had just woken up as well now wanting to test their new device until their father took it away from them and hid it somewhere in the room.

After what seemed like a while the boys, James, and Ron were all ready for their lunch run in with Aunt Caryl. As they exited the room the girls had also finished with Ann wearing a sparkling blue dress that complemented a white dress that Kim had put on with a matching leather handbag. Ron cocked an eyebrow as Kim never usually wears white dresses at all. Had the entire situation dealing with her aunt change her in that way, maybe Gotham was getting to her.

"Kim? Since when do you have that white dress?"

"Yeah Ron, surprised me as well, where did you get it?" Kim blushed as she looks down at the dress hugging her curves well.

"Oh, well I've always had it, it just didn't really occur to me that I never wore it, and I got it from Club Banana thanks to Monique." Ron just returned his usual smile towards Kim, making her feel much more comfortable. Breaking the moment was James as he called for everyone to the elevator as it arrived. Kim looked into the time on the Kimmunicator since it was 11:30 now it should be at least 1:30 back at Middleton, her thumb darted to the main button to page Wade but stopped, hesitating and deciding to hold it off until they reached the car. She in no way wanted to have her mother overhear any sort of detail that she had learned from Wade the night prior. With her mindset she placed the Kimmunicator back in her bag and hearing the bell of the elevator door as they opened slowly revealing the lobby once again.

She caught up with the rest of the gang as the car hop had just taken the keys from James to fetch their Van. Kim then felt a cold rush against her skin as she looked to see several men eyeing her in her gorgeous white dress from all around. She just glared back at them as they all gawked at her. Their eyes quickly darting away avoiding any awkward eye contact. In response, she just cursed them under her breath

"Unbelievable…" she whispered.

"You say something KP?"

"Uh, no Ron."

The Car Hop had just returned with the Van as he just handed James the Keys and bowed wishing them to drive safe. James nodded with a smile of acknowledgment, and called for everyone to pile into the van. This time Jim and Tim sat in the back, as Ron and Kim sat in the middle of the van. It wasn't long until the Kimmunicator rang its familiar Jingle. Kim reached for her hand back and answered eagerly.

"Hey Wade, what's the sitch?"

"Okay, so I did some more digging this morning, it wasn't easy but I may have found something!" With a few strikes of his keyboard a picture of a man in a white suit with tiny gray stripes protruding downward. His scowl matched his jet-black hair and square jaw, while his cheekbones were sharp and easily presentable. All were complemented by his dark brown eyes and a few scars on his face, with a look of disgust on his face to boot.

"Okay Wade, who's the creepy guy?"

"That is Roman Sionis; He owns a big time steel mill in the Industrial District and is one of the richest men in all of Gotham."

"I'm guessing that's not all he's known for," Kim replied with a raised brow and a smile.

Wade then pressed the right arrow key on his keyboard causing the photo to change. This time Roman was holding a large .45 caliber Browning 1911 pistol with an extended barrel pointed upward to the left. A small cigarette was in his right hand still lit showing its small smoke trail. This time Roman's face was covered with a black skull with its canine teeth sharpened and showing a nasty facial expression leaving only two holes for his eyes to see through as it easily covered his entire face as it made it nearly impossible to identify the man under the mask, though for Wade, what seems impossible can be easily accomplished.

"Right! In fact, he is the biggest Crime lord in Gotham right now under the guise of the Black Mask. He is suspected to be responsible for a lot of highly sophisticated big time robberies in the city, not to mention becoming the biggest pain in the behind for Mr. Carmine Falcone. He is a brilliant strategic mind with Gotham's underworld. Drug trafficking is his primary economy and it may be safe to say that he has at least 10 deliveries every day Kim with no way of tracking where they arrive and leave. What's worse that he is a big fan of torture, as anyone killed by The Black Mask had lacerations, cuts, missing toes and fingers, and 2nd to 3rd-degree burns on their bodies before they died, and Kim the body count has spiked… Kim?"

Kim couldn't help but be a bit shocked at the entire situation ignoring Wade's replies. Sure she dealt with villains like Dr. Drakken, Monkey Fist, and Gemini, but none of them resorted to killing. Not even Shego resorted to getting those glowing claws of hers bathed in blood. Black Mask on the other hand… it was like an addiction, he thrived on his enemies tears and futile screams for mercy. The thought that her Aunt could be somehow involved with a man like Black Mask made her sick inside almost losing the battle to fight off anxiety. Wade called one final time; this time breaking Kim's thought process.

"S-sorry Wade. This is just new to me. This stuff should only be in those creepy movies about being possibly kidnapped and held hostage and Black Mask loves it."

"I know. It might be best to try and get Aunt Caryl out quietly. Without any form of resignation with Commissioner Loeb. Do you suppose that Loeb and Black Mask are working together?" Wade's word hit Kim, hard. It would be a great strategic advantage to have the City Police Commissioner under a crime lord's thumb, & Black Mask fit the bill perfectly. Aunt Caryl could evaluate any patient within the Black Gate prison, and if any of those thugs worked for Black Mask it wouldn't take much time for them to be released with the help of Commissioner Loeb. Aunt Caryl could be trapped in a continuous cycle.

"It's a start. With those two working together any thug could get out in a matter of days a secondary system to where any arrested "employee" of Black Mask would be released with the help of Loeb and using my aunt. This has turned personal."

"Kim hold your horses there. We can't go after this guy like we do with Drakken and the others. This guy changes the whole playing field, a whole new ball game." While Kim wanted to do everything she could possibly think of, Wade was right. Black Mask is something completely new. It would be foolish to go in head first with that same 1911 pointed right at her and Ron, and to get him involved? Kim couldn't bear the thought of Ron getting hurt in such a way and fought off those nightmarish scenarios. Her mind then heard the door being opened and her eyes shot out wide. Looking to the right finding her father holding the door open for her. She noticed the restaurant that they had arrived at.

It was easy to say that Le Bernardin was a high class restaurant. Looking through the glass walls seeing every waiter and waitress wearing a suit at the least. Aunt Caryl had already arrived and waved her hands towards Ann who waved back. Kim took special notice of her Aunt's smile, even after all that happened last night she had the strength to smile. This is one aspect that Kim had always admired about her Aunt.

As the group entered the restaurant the host professionally lead them to the 7 seat table next to the bar area. Kim to a seat nearest to the bar next to her parents while Aunt Caryl and the boys sat on the other side closest to the window. Aunt Caryl and the others had been looking at the menu as Kim was still stuck in her mind. The woman sitting right across from her was the city's best Psychiatrist, and as a result, it got her involved with its most crooked officer, and its most dangerous crime lord. Talk about unfair.

Kim was so stuck in her mind that she hadn't even noticed the waitress was waiting for her order. She snapped back to reality blushing a bit in embarrassment. The waitress must have been a bit older than herself as she had her dark brown hair in a ponytail and her brown eyes matched Kim's green eyes waiting for her answer.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I just want a water please." The waitress just nodded with a smile and wrote down her answer. Kim had looked to see if anyone had noticed her stupor, thankfully no one else did. Kim did see something else though. As she turned her shoulder a man with a baseball cap and a white stained T-shirt acting loud and rambunctious. He held a Bud Light beer can. Hollering about in his drunken stupor he tried to make contact with the Waitress.

"Hey there p-pretty lady, why don't you strut that nice behind of yours over here and sit on ol'papi's lap?" The waitress just ignored the drunk and walked into the other part of the restaurant. Kim growled at the drunken man's stupor and wanted to confront him on it. A hand placed on her shoulder as her head swung seeing her father eye the man as well. With a hidden sign of disgust. Kim never really witnessed anyone actually be that way at Middleton, at least to the best of her knowledge. She was however aware that her father was never a fan of her dating anyone, so for him to see another individual act in such a way, must really push his peeve button. He shrugged it off and went back to looking at the menu.

Kim had just now opened the menu, it was blank and white with nothing but the menu and its descriptions just one statement, $140 per person. Kim's eyes shot wide and looked to her Dad who had the exact same expression on his face. The total for their tab alone would be just south of $1000. James notified Ann immediately afraid that they may not be able to afford it. Ann notified Caryl, and to her surprised laughed.

"Don't worry Ann, Loeb had to give me a big advance for working on the Holidays, I do owe Captain Gordon for telling him straight almost didn't give it to me."

"Oh, who is this Captain Gordon, someone special?" Ann gave Caryl a sly smile and a snicker. Caryl blushed badly as she dropped the menu in shock and waved her hands palms facing towards her sister.

"W-What!? N-No, it's not like that at all! He and I just work together! Besides for your information Ann, He has a wife and a daughter named Barbara, and possibly the only honest cop in the GCPD." Caryl just huffed and crossed her arm facing away from Ann as they soon playfully laughed. Kim sighed softly. Captain Gordon now was the only person in all of Gotham that had his head on straight as far as she was concerned. Ron noticed this too as Rufus just sat in his pocket. Kim immediately snapped to a different train of thought.

"R-Ron! Put Rufus away, we are in a high-class restaurant and can get kicked out because you have him, please just put him in your pocket before someone notices." Kim's fingers wrapped around her nose as she shook her head. Ron just sighed and looked down to Rufus who just shared their sad expression as Rufus crawled into his pocket as the waitress had just returned with all of their drinks. Kim was happy at last as she swiftly left for a bit. Heading to the bar to grab a bottle of cabernet sauvignon. Kim looked behind her shoulder once more to notice two glasses as well.

Her eyes instinctively darted to the same drunk man from before as his eyes were peering all around the waitress's body. It was obvious that she felt uncomfortable about the whole thing. Doing whatever she could to avoid eye contact with the specific individual who then started to obnoxiously whistle, what Kim next saw was both unexpected and uncalled for. His hand had dropped the beer can which spilled creating a small mess on the counter and darted towards her slapping her hard on the butt. The slap echoed through the restaurant and caused her to lose balance falling forward straight towards Kim, the wine already tilting towards her.

Time for Kim slowed down almost as the waitress fell over the obnoxious drunkard nearby, Kim could see it playing out. The wine spilling on her dress, her father having to engage the drunken man for such rude behavior. She simply waited for the cold liquid to coat her, then... nothing. She opened her eyes to find a tall dark man holding the waitress by her waist with one hand and her wine platter the next.

His Brown eyes locked in place on the waitress to make sure she didn't move, and then they would revert to Kim. He then slowly stood aiding the waitress back up on her feet in the process. He stood a few inches above her, his suit a bit messy from a small spill of red wine. The waitress just could not stop herself from bowing in complete embarrassment. She could tell that the waitress was fighting tears. How could she after getting humiliated by being spanked by a drunken man at work and then spilling wine all over a man's suit?

"Oh dear god, I'm so sorry! Please don't report this to my manager! It all happened so fast I," Kim felt bad for the waitress, almost having no faith in the man she begged before, wanting to protect her. Her hand placed on the back of her chair ready to stand up as the waitress continued to beg, both were halted by the raising of his right hand.

"It's alright ma'am, there's really no need to worry nothing I can't handle. Besides the suit was getting a bit small, and it is nowhere near your fault." Kim felt relieved to see this man be so kind hearted to the girl, and understanding that the real cause of trouble was the man who slapped her in the behind. Though more questions started to unravel, who was this man, where did he come from and why did he help her when he had no real obligation.

More questions formed but all were silenced by the approach of another individual. This man bared a small resemblance to the other, his jet black hair and square jaw, along with his dark yet alluring presence and physique caught Kim's eye. She could tell his body was lean and very well built and his blue calming eyes were like the ocean. The other man noticed his approach and turned around no words were exchanged until the taller of the two finally spoke. His voice was low and strong, yet relaxed and calm.

"Good work Ben that could have turned out a whole lot uglier than need be."

"Thank you, sir. I just hope that this little incident doesn't make us late for our meeting with the board of directors." Kim's mind was chock full of many questions, she couldn't really factor all of them, but the most common were who were those two men, and what was their relations, they were obviously business partners but normal business partners aren't too keen with dining at a restaurant that would cost each $140 per person. Ron then had an outburst of excitement making the situation a bit more awkward. His hands slammed on the table catching everyone's attention.

"Wow! Sweet moves bro! I've never seen someone react that fast!" The brown eyed man looked to Ron a bit confused and annoyed. He took notice of Ron's gargantuan smile as he awkwardly didn't say anything. He then observed Rufus as he was giving him a small thumbs up. He just sighed and pulled his sleeves up and gave the other taller individual his coat. Kim noticed how massive this one man's arms were. Their muscles bulging from just moving, even the Waitress started to blush a bit from just their sheer size. His voice then rose again from the silence with a hint of rage.

"Uh... Thanks. Now to deal with this piece of," before he could finish, the other man interrupted. Placing his hand in front of him. Ben stopped as he gave the taller individual a quizzical look.

"No need." With a wave of his hand, two security guards approached the scene. The man explained the situation in detail; both of the officers nodded and then approached the drunkard. The drunk tried to defend himself and called the dark haired individual a lunatic. Both officers couldn't help but burst into laughter after hearing his drunken lingo and told him to place his hand behind his back. The drunk was handcuffed and taken away right after. Kim's eyes were wide, whoever this man was had power, just like what Caryl was talking about last night. Only the strong survive in Gotham and this particular figure must have had some connections to have someone arrested on the spot. The man smiled and looked towards the guests who saw the entirety of the event. He stood in front of everyone; he first gave his new audience a smile and spoke out.

"I do hope that what happened here today does not affect your personal experience here at the Le Bernardin restaurant, the food here is excellent and the staff here will treat you with the utmost respect, Thank you for your time." With that people around couldn't help but clap and smile, some even stood up and some whistled. Kim notices that Caryl had stood up, clapping fast with a massive grin on her face. Ben had also been clapping picking up his leather portfolio after dropping it to catch the waitress who also had been clapping. The man waved back at some with a smile and reproached Ben.

"Executed perfectly as always," Ben said. Kim clapped as well as, she was indeed impressed. But still, the questions piled up, who was this Gentlemen. How can one man be able to have another arrested with just a snap of his fingers? Kim was about to speak up when her father beat her to the punch.

"Wow Caryl, that man is something else, who is he?" James asked.

"That is Gotham's brightest mind, billionaire philanthropist, and pioneer of the city's future, Bruce Wayne!" Bruce had started to chat with Ben, the two obviously discussing private matters. Kim then spoke up and asked Caryl another one of her now many questions.

"Caryl, does Bruce have any relation to Wayne Enterprises?" Kim asked.

"That's right Kim Possible; I am the C.E.O of Wayne Enterprises." Bruce acknowledged. Kim's head jolted behind her to find Bruce giving her eye contact with a warm smile. Kim felt a bit embarrassed to have the actual person who owned the company answer such a silly question. Suddenly it hit her, Bruce knew her name. He knew who she was.

"Wait, you know who I am?"

"The world famous teen hero, Kim Possible I've heard much about you." Bruce extended his hand to Kim. She was hesitant at first, but she then reached for his hand and shook it. She took in the strength Bruce had in his shake and how firm his grasp was.

"Ah, I knew she looked familiar, you're on the news quite a bit every now and then," Ben said.

"Do you recognize me!?" Ron exclaimed in joy, leaning forward towards both men. Giving them a large smile, pointing at himself & moving his eyebrows up and down. Both Bruce and Ben looked at each other for a second, sharing a quizzical expression. They both looked at Ron as Bruce spoke.

"I'm sorry?" Bruce asked.

"It's me, Ron. Ron Stoppable? T-The sidekick?" He said with a doomed expression on his face. Both men blinked.

"I'm afraid we haven't heard of you Mr. Probable was it?" Ben asked looking towards Ron with a perched eyebrow.

"Stoppable!" Ron exclaimed in defeat with a facepalm. Kim sighed in both embarrassment and humor. She would be lying if she didn't at least have some kind of laughter to see Ron embarrass himself for recognition, but at least his pants were not ripped.

When the handshake was done Caryl was in shock. Hardly anyone got close to Bruce Wayne let alone shake his hand. Only those who worked close to him got a glimpse of him, the only other person so far that she knew of as of now that was close to Bruce was Ben. Bruce then noticed Caryl and extended his hand to her as well. Caryl blushed and in shock and shook it as well, his words sinking into her mind.

"Your Dr. Caryl O'malley, a leading psychiatrist and rehabilitations expert, it's good to know there are other people that wish to change this city for the better like myself."

"Uh... likewise Mr. Wayne!" Caryl tried to keep composure in front of Bruce but needless to say, she had a hard time. Bruce just thought of it as normal behavior, he then looked around and checked his watch. Bruce's arm then rose into the air and it wasn't long before the same waitress arrived on the scene. Kim had a hard time believing that Mr. Wayne was as good of a person as everyone around her seemed to believe, everyone she had encountered with that kind of power had some evil agenda. With a massive business like Wayne Enterprises, she concluded that Bruce could have endless possibilities for being a supervillain with massive potential, with a pocketbook almost as big as Señor Senior Sr. Bruce could be a major threat to the world.

"Yes, Mr. Wayne?" the waitress asked.

"Please pull up two more chairs for myself and my executive assistant, and I'll have a Glass of Viognier wine to drink."

"Bruce, we do have a meeting within an hour," Ben exclaimed leaning into Bruce's ear.

"Then postpone it, the meeting is involving something that can wait anyway."

Ben just sighed and rolled his eyes. Pulling out his phone and sent the text to the remaining attendees. The waitress had already pulled the chairs up for the two men. Bruce had sat next to Caryl and Ann, and Ben sat next to Caryl and Kim. As they sat down Bruce's drink was being poured and Ben placed his portfolio next to Ron and the waitress asked the same question. Ben ordered a Louisiana Hurricane causing Bruce to towards Ben with a cocked eyebrow, making Kim feel a bit awkward. After all, she was sitting between the number one bureaucrats of Gotham City. She struggled to keep her composure, Bruce knew about her. He knew who she was and that rubbed Kim a bit the wrong way. Even the waitress knew who Bruce was.

"Wow, Mr. Wayne what an unexpected pleasure to have you sit with us!" Ann said her smile catching Bruce's eye and he returned the gesture.

"It's no problem at all, and I assume you are Kim's mother?"

"Yes, I'm Ann Possible; I work as a Brain Surgeon at the Middleton Hospital."

"Impressive, and I assume you must be her father?"

"Yes, James Timothy Possible. I'm a rocket scientist for the Middleton Space Center."

"Remarkable Mr. Possible." Bruce said before he took a sip of his wine as Ben's drink arrived. It's ruby red and tangy orange color started to beautifully blend as Ben stirred it with his straw, he closed his eyes and took a sip of his drink letting it take over him. Ron couldn't help but eye at the fruity drink and even became awed inspired by it.

"Hey, Ben was it, can I have a sip?" Ben stopped drinking and took in Ron's question. Noticing Ron eyeing the Hurricane drink absorbing in its warm colors. Ben just looked up to Ron and gave him a cold glare. His brown eyes stared straight into Ron's soul and he immediately backed off feeling it's icy tone. Even Rufus retreated into Ron's pocket as the glare continued and darted to him. Bruce also heard the question and looked oddly towards Ron, but he continued his conversations at the other end of the table and saw it as usual behavior for a person of Ron's age. Kim, on the other hand, sighed and covered her face in embarrassment. She wanted to forget that only Ron could have ever asked such a question at 17.

Bruce has finished his drink and his conversations with the adults in the group. When once again he looked at his watch, noticing that only 12 minutes had passed when he and Ben sat down. He observed everything around him, the conversations Caryl and Ann were having, how fast Tim and Jim consumed their food, Rufus's behavior, all were at his attention. He even notices the tapping of Kim's fork and how repetitive it was, 2 taps per second on the left corner of her plate. He then paid attention to Ben who had been writing things down in his portfolio, meeting dates, conference calls, and other important events for his company. He even took notice of a small inhale from Caryl, mentally preparing for her question.

"So Bruce anything new your company is coming up with?" Caryl asked.

"The meeting I postponed today was concerning something small, mainly a way of helping out any small businesses by creating key card terminal locks, as well as security cameras, motion detectors and a plethora of other security technology." Bruce kept his composure as he answered the question. His entire body language showed sophistication and well behaved aristocratic tendencies. Ben just kept looking at his portfolio not making any form of conversation whatsoever. The waitress soon arrived and approached the men at the corner of the table.

"Are these going to be separate checks, wanted to make sure before I receive the order!"

James then sighed and reached for his wallet gripping it tightly. James had pulled out his credit card gripping it tightly catching Caryl's attention. Eating here might not have been an appropriate choice. She loved her sister's family, but she then goes and makes them pay nearly a grand just for lunch?

"Yes, there will be two checks, one for my family and-"

"I thought I told you I would cover your bill." Aunt Caryl interrupted, causing Ann to place her hand on her sisters own. This caught both the eyes of Bruce and Ben, who then exchanged looks with each other for a quick second concluded with a nod by Bruce and a few pen strokes from Ben.

"Oh Caryl you don't have to do that, we can surely pay for it" Ann replied.

"That's not the point Ann. I should have thought about how expensive this place is and with a group this size-"

"One check, I'll cover it." Bruce interrupted.

Kim's eyes went wide as well as everyone else's had at the table. James' heart skipped a beat as he heard Bruce's words as well as Ann's and Caryl's. Even Jim and Tim looked up to Bruce with a surprised look and a cocked eyebrow. Ron and Rufus even look at Bruce in astonishment. Kim did the math in her head, 7 people makes $980 plus three more being $320 would total $1,260. James spoke up almost right after stuttering profoundly.

"Mr. Wayne that's very kind for you but I can certainly pay for my family and we just met it wouldn't be right for me to-"

"It's nothing really Mr. Possible. This deal I'm finishing will be able to pull millions in return, that's why I postponed the meeting. It's just legal stuff that gets in the way after that, and there is no logical reason for us to hold a meeting about paperwork that forces my company to wait a few months to help out the city." Bruce protested his warm smile which melted Caryl's anxiety away.

James just nodded in acceptance and didn't want to push the situation any further. It wasn't long afterward that the waitress had gotten everyone's food order and rang it through their system. Kim and Ron had taken a liking to Bruce very quickly. Her worries instantly washed away with the few sentences he uttered. Bruce was an honest good man trying to change his city for the better. It was also very clear that he had their trust, no one like Carmine Falcone, or Roman Sionis. Bruce Wayne was the pioneer of Gotham's Future. Kim then looked to Ben who had finally joined the table after putting his portfolio aside. Kim though ignored it as it was mostly just business stuff that the two men discussed.

Ron had started to play around with the silverware to himself while Jim and Tim acted like their normal weird selves. It only took 30-45 minutes for their food to arrive as a perfectly cooked salmon arrived in front of her. The smell was alien but attractive. As she took the first bite the taste sunk into her tongue. It was rich and savory as she enjoyed every minute of it. Ben had ordered the exact same and took bigger bites and ate with a napkin on his lap as Bruce ordered a salmon as well. Bruce then broke the silence.

"Mr. Possible, I was wondering if there is any way my company could make a partnership with the Middleton Space Center. We have just designed a satellite that can achieve long-range global communication from a single point in orbit whether it be at its apoapsis point or it's perigee point, on a massive multitude of channels both private and public. Though I do plan on launching that satellite by the end of this year." Bruce asked.

"Of course! I'm fairly certain I can get the board to meet with us. Working with Wayne Enterprises will surely be a blessing for the Space Center! If you're ever in town shoot me an email." James was ecstatic about aiding Mr. Wayne with the launch of the satellite. Kim felt warm and happy inside as one man had made up for all of the negative experiences here in Gotham. Bruce notices her smile and shared one right back with her. Another hour had passed, spent by conversations of past missions by Kim and Ron, surgeries from Ann and much more before the waitress returned with the bill now paid for by Bruce. He left two $100 bills under her pen and his signature.

As the group left the restaurant, Bruce and James continued their conversation over the ramifications and specifications of launching the Wayne COM 7 Satellite as they called it. Ben had begun to lean on a light pole with his blazer hung over his shoulder and darting his eyes down every alleyway they could spot. Kim had noticed this peculiar behavior Ben had shown and his eyes darted right for hers within a few seconds. Not wanting awkward eye contact her eyes darted towards Ron who luckily had an instant question requiring an answer.

"Anything new with your Aunt and those other guys from Wade?" Kim had totally forgotten about all she learned from Wade 2 hours ago when they first arrived here. The same debate played now as it did last night as she either need to tell Ron the seriousness about the subject of Black Mask or leave it all to rest and find a way to help out Aunt Caryl another way. This decision would lead to the same result.

"Oh it was nothing too important Ron almost like a dead end" Kim cursed herself in her head for lying once more to Ron now.

"Ah man, hoping for at least something… is that a limo?" Ron asked with Kim's head darting towards the upcoming vehicle. It was a black 1954 Rolls Royce Phantom IV in mint condition to say the least. She then took notice that Bruce and her father had shaken hands and a much older man exited the vehicle and waited by the passenger door and stood straight keeping the same facial expression. His top hat that matched his black suit covered his gray hair and a sharp thin black pointed mustache that faced downward helped add to his distinguished appearance. Bruce walked past Kim waving goodbye, Kim returned the wave as well. Ben had put his blazer back on and out of sudden impulse she darted for him before he finished.

"Hey, Ben was it? I just wanted to say thanks for the help back there with the wine and sorry about the suit too." Kim blushed a bit knowing that it must have been an expensive article of clothing that got ruined by the incident prior. Ben just chuckled.

"It's nothing Ms. Possible. Like I said it's almost too small so it was about to be thrown out or given away. So don't sweat it and you have a good day." With a small bow Ben acknowledged Kim and walked into the car as the butler closed it behind him. Kim looked back as the butler tipped his cap to her and entered the car. By the time her father had pulled up with the van the car Ben and Bruce entered had driven off. Kim just smiled now a bit more confident with Gotham.

Ben had opened his portfolio as he relaxed against the leather seats, not affected by the hurricane's alcohol one bit. He just wrote away notes that he found about Kim. Her hair, eye color, body type and assumed weight and calculated height. Ben also had a separate column for Ron and even Rufus. He mouthed the details to himself saying everything at least once or twice for memorization. He even was able to determine they both were attending Middleton High School as juniors. Bruce glanced at Ben's portfolio and just looked back towards the window. Ben noticed his peering as well, but brushed it off as normal behavior for Bruce. Several minutes had passed before the driver reached a four-way intersection. His soft British accent rang like bells.

"Where to now sir?" The Driver asked.

"I'm headed back to Wayne Enterprises Alfred, Go ahead and take Ben back the Manor," Bruce replied.

"Yes, Sir." Alfred took a right towards the Midtown section of Gotham where the Wayne Enterprises tower stood tall in all its glory past the Diamond District. Ben cocked a smile as he knew exactly what Bruce was planning for the evening. The moon was out when the most lively parts of the day for both Ben and Bruce occurred. Ben slapped his portfolio shut and placed it between himself and Bruce, who instantly picked it up and reviewed what Ben had written. Ben just looked at Bruce with a confident stare watching his eyes dart left and right, reading all there was. When Bruce closed the portfolio and placed it back, his words were part expected and left field.

"Good work Ben, you were able to find out a great deal of information about those kids by just sitting next to them. It's vitally important that you master that skill as fast as possible; it could spell trouble for you in the near future if you don't. I still can't believe you persuaded me to let you do this."

"We should be fine Bruce; nothing too dangerous as it's been a full 3 months now and you must admit I've done a good job. If we can work together on those fronts, however, we can affect more than just Gotham in the long run." Ben looked at Bruce directly in the eyes. They gleamed with confidence as Alfred interrupted the two gentlemen.

"Pardon me sir, but who was the family you two were interacting with when I arrived?" Alfred Asked.

"Those was the Possible family, and partially why I have a chardonnay stain on my shirt. But their good people Alfred and I'll just toss this out no need to worry about cleaning it up." Ben answered.

"Possible family you say? Isn't that the family of that teen hero girl from down south?"

"Yes Alfred that was the family of Kim Possible. Her Father and I discussed an availability to launch the communications satellite, but she's a damn fool." These words hit Ben unexpectedly almost having him doubt what he had just heard from Bruce. Bruce never was cold like the mob bosses, but he did have his moments where his unfathomably strategic genius intellect would take over from his people skills. Ben saw it as nothing as he knew why Bruce said that. Bruce never was a fan of letting people get too close.

The only people that really did get close to him was Lucius Fox back at Wayne Enterprises, Alfred, and Ben himself. Though that never explained everything. Especially when it had something to do with that cold December night. That same night where everything changed for him. An old scar acted up again as it started to tingle a bit. He began to scratch the scar on his right shin that was propped up by his left leg. It was the same scar that appeared on his leg from dodging gunfire, and he was only 7 years old on that Christmas vacation.


	3. I am what Gotham needs!

Aunt Caryl had decided to take some time off and spend it with her family inside the girl's hotel room, she especially wanted to check up on Kim. After all, she did seem a bit dazed at the table back at Le Bernardin; they did just meet one of the world's brightest philanthropists, Bruce Wayne and his assistant Ben.

Kim had Ben stuck in her mind, he was so quick that it was like a blur to her as he caught the poor waitress at the last possible second. She couldn't believe it almost, even as she fought Shego, she was able to perfectly see her glowing claws coming at her. Ben was a sophisticated combination of both focused and quick. Aunt Caryl easily caught up to her thoughts. After all Ben was by far an attractive individual, the perfect guy for Kim in her eyes. Though she already put together that it wasn't what Kim was thinking, she played on it for her own amusement.

"So Kim, he was a cutie, maybe I can help you get his digits?" Aunt Caryl joked that was soon followed by her sly grin. Kim's cheeks went red blushing. Her red hair flowed with her head that darted with an annoyed expression on her face towards her aunt. She overheard her mother giggling a bit, while her father looked towards Aunt Caryl with a cocked eyebrow and a not so friendly look. One that made even Ron's skin crawl as Rufus just watched everything unravel safely in his pocket.

"A-Aunt Caryl!? No don't you even joke like that! Besides, he is way too old for me and too busy for me. Being the assistant to a billion dollar company doesn't mean he gets free time."

"Oh I don't know Kimmie, it helps to have a boyfriend with a job like that, and he is quite young for the position." Kim's face darted towards her mother who gave a sly wink to her sister. While James had a much different opinion.

"Kim, that boy must be in his mid-twenties, and I will not allow you to date anyone that much older than you."

"Thank you Dad," Kim replied. She was never a fan of her father's restrictions on dating any boy's back home, but for once she actually agreed with him. He was right, Ben was way too old for her to be dating, and she didn't like the idea of a boyfriend that hardly had any time to be with her. Not to mention it would be considered illegal. The tweebs didn't help at all either as they did their classic chant to annoy Kim.

"Oh~ Kim and Ben, sitting in a tree… K, I, S, S..." Kim immediately stormed towards Jim and Tim before they were saved by Ron who couldn't help but chuckle at the whole thing. Which he immediately regretted following Kim's glare darting right towards his eyes. Aunt Caryl and Ann had a giggle about the whole farce. Though sadly it all ended with a swift phone jingle in Caryl's purse. Kim noticed and saw something odd, Caryl's facial expression wasn't upset like the last time she was called, and she smiled. The jingle was a nice tune, sounding much more positive, rather than her annoying home phone ringing. She observed the phone's contact and answered, she tapped the on speaker button on her screen and a strong, stern voice came on.

"Good Afternoon Captain Gordon," she replied. Kim and Ron's attention immediately spiked as they listened in, could it have been the same Captain Gordon that helped her get vacation pay?

"Good Afternoon Caryl, did you have a good lunch with your family?"

"I sure did, I suggested Le Bernardin and,"

"Le Bernardin!? That restaurant is crazy expensive! You must have paid an arm and a leg for that food. You couldn't have gone to a good steakhouse?" Captain Gordon immediately interrupted.

"Gordon no need to worry about it, besides it was all paid for."

"Who is crazy enough to pay for a family at that place?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," She boasted.

"Try me," Gordon replied.

"It was Bruce Wayne, he and his assistant Ben sat with us for a short while." as the phone went silent for a second, Kim couldn't help but smile. Gordon finally spoke.

"Wow… better count your blessings Caryl hardly anyone gets close to Wayne." Caryl couldn't help but grin slyly which didn't last long, as she was about to learn the nature of the call.

"Unfortunately I'm not calling about anything positive. We've been summoned at Black Gate." the smile instantly faded from Caryl's face, turning into a furious glare. Her teeth instantly showed and her hand bawled into a fist. Kim and Ann both looked down at the cell phone with a similar stare. Commissioner Loeb was being seriously inconsiderate, and whatever they were paying her was not compensating for the unfair treatment Caryl was getting. Ron could see this anger in Kim's eyes and looked concerned as well. He never saw Kim this angry, not since he signed her up for the talent show a while back. The two women about to explode as Caryl's fuse ran out first.

"That son of a… I specifically told him not to call me in today as it was my families last goddamn," Gordon cut her off, right before Kim and Ann were about to jump in on the call.

"Caryl, we have another victim from the brutal beatings. I will meet you there." Gordon then hung up leaving an awkward silence. Caryl's eyes widened and looked towards her family a bit upset now. Ann saw this as well as she then exchanged eye contact with James. Kim then calmed down as well. What beatings were going on in Gotham? Caryl sighed softly with her eyes closed looking at the ground a bit depressed, facing the reality of the situation.

"Damn… I'm sorry Ann, but this is a private matter for the city of Gotham, something I can't overlook if we are to turn this city around for the better." Ann just smiled and nodded. Taking Caryl back for a bit. Her sister's soft voice came following shortly.

"No it's fine, besides we should get the kids packing as well, we both have work the day after tomorrow and James definitely needs to tell the board about Bruce." Ann placed a kiss on her husband's cheek. Kim's mind went racing. She wanted to help her aunt get out of the situation with Commissioner Loeb and Roman Sionis. While it may not be an instant cure to this conundrum, it surely will get her close to the source and she was used to supervillains, Loeb isn't the problem, however, Black Mask is. Kim never did get the full picture of how bad Gotham's fall to crime really was. Now it was finally starting to come from the shadows. Her emerald eyes darted to Caryl as she took a deep breath uttering her words.

"Aunt Caryl, I want to go." This took the whole room in shock. Caryl and Ann's eyes both darted towards Kim's. Ron even looked at her with a quizzical look and Rufus shot out of his pocket looking at Kim funny. Kim stood her ground her confident stare towards the older women of the room. Caryl ran her hand through her short brown hair. Sighing a bit at the sudden turn of events. The silence burned at Kim's skin, she desperately wanted an answer. Aunt Caryl's uneasy voice came finally from her lips.

"Kim I'm not too sure that's a good idea. I'd rather you not get involved with something as dangerous as…"

"Aunt Caryl, I help out people across the world on a daily basis. Stopping Bad Guys is what Ron and I do, and not just any old robbers and thieves, Super baddies that want to take over the world. This is no sweat Aunt Caryl, I can do anything!" Kim held a lot of faith in that final monolog. Hoping that what the world already knows of her can help her get Aunt Caryl's trust. Ron then stood next to her with a regular confident stare, wanting nothing more but to help her, like any good sidekick would. Kim held her breath as she waited. Caryl finally spoke looking towards her mother.

"Well Ann?" All eyes darted towards Ann as she just smiled a bit. Her calm voice answering the question.

"Alright Kim, just be careful as always." Kim took a breath of relaxation as her mother approved of her little side quest. Ron smiled as well, seeing Kim now relaxed and having the strain off her shoulders. Caryl then started to pack a small leather satchel that matched her dress as it was both dinner and work appropriate. Which lead Kim to think of something along side the whole escapade, and asked Ron the question.

"Uh Ron, did you happen to pack your mission clothes, Ron?" Ron's eyes went bugged eyed as he did not keep eye contact with her.

"I didn't think we would be going on any missions, so I left it at home."

"Oh Ron, well looks like you're stuck with that until we get home." Kim sighed as she placed her hand on her forehead. Caryl couldn't help but let out a small giggle as she saw Ron's unfortunate decision come back to haunt him. Her giggles changed into a stern and commanding tone however.

"Be ready in 15 understand?" Both of the crime-fighting duo looked towards her and nodded.

"I'm ready for anything Aunt Caryl. So bring it on." Kim boasted. She thought to herself as she opened up her bag to find her black crop top and cargo pants folded up and ready with her belt. She felt that she was what this city could possibly need. Do a bit of crime fighting here herself while she had the opportunity. Kim had moved past everyone to change in the bathroom and got dressed into her mission clothes.

Taking a deep breath she stared at herself in the mirror this image was so familiar, but the environment wasn't, making her feel a bit uncomfortable and regretful that she just put her Aunt in the spotlight like that. Kim shook those thoughts off by remembering just what her aunt is trapped in. She needs to help her in any way she can. Hopefully, she can convince the commissioner to change his ways and find a way to beat Black Mask once and for all. It may be harder than anything she has faced yet, but she has dealt with doomsday devices on a weekly basis, this was no big. She might be exactly what this city needs.

Ben had been rubbing the scar on his leg for a while after he got back to the Manor. It never itched as bad as it was today. Normally it would itch for only a few short minutes every few days or weeks. Now it was tingling constantly almost. His fingernails continued scratch against his suit pants. Alfred had just returned to the kitchen from the garage, walking in slowly as he kept his straight face. He started to cook up a small dinner platter for Ben. Grilled Chicken with fresh fruits and steamed vegetables. Alfred has always been a friend of Ben even though through his old age he had taken care of both Bruce and himself when they were young. Alfred saved his life it's the least he could do.

"Thanks for the ride Alfred, guess I haven't got the time to drive myself around even though I'm 24, he still doesn't know right?"

"No problem at all Master Ben. What I do find odd is that you were able to steal a small biplane and fly it at the age of 17. Then you took your exams and were able to obtain your pilot's license at the age of 16 while you got your driver's license all on your own when you were 15 and that's when you tested out of Gotham University. Not the average teenager you were. And no, Master Bruce is unaware that you have your driver's license or that you completed it within a 3-month time span."

"Guess me and the old man are a lot alike huh?" Ben proclaimed as Alfred just served Ben his platter. It's fresh smell digging into Ben's nostrils. He always ate, while Bruce hardly ever did. Most of their dinners were between Alfred and Ben alone, the two were awfully close. This is what aided Alfred in his clever retort.

"And yet you're adopted," Alfred said with a grin.

"Now that's cold," Ben replied, looking towards Alfred with a cocked eyebrow and a grin equal to that of his own. Alfred returned to the sink to clean up his mess of making dinner while Ben chowed down. He couldn't help but keep looking out the manor window towards the city, with the Wayne Enterprises tower right in the dead center in view. The sunset of dusk's beautiful glow overtook the city skies. The sun slowly started to fade along with the food on Ben's plate. The grin turned into a stern cold stare as he counted down the seconds to where the sun would reach half point. Illuminating itself upon the water. Alfred caught the sun's reflection from a nearby stainless steel fridge and looked over his shoulder staring at Ben with his plate cleaned off. He too caught himself staring out to the water of Gotham. He approached Ben with a Glass of freshwater and took the plate, noticing that Ben drank all of the water with one sip.

Thanking Alfred afterward, he got up and slowly went towards the study room, arguably the most popular room in the whole Manor. He stopped in front of the Grandfather clock, observing its pendulum swing from left to right. Ben opened the glass case and placed his hands on the face of clock. His pointer finger moving the big hand to two hours ahead to 10 and the little hand to 30 minutes ahead to the number 47. The clock read 10:47 P.M. causing the clock to slide to the left, revealing a hidden passageway with a flight of stone carved stairs, leading down deeper into a cavern. Ben and Alfred followed that stairwell down as their voices echoed throughout the cavern.

"You're starting the night off early," Alfred commented, his old British accent echoed throughout the cave causing a few chirps of bats that hung from the wall. They used to terrify Ben, now they don't even faze him. Several bats flew past the two men, one nearly attacking Ben. He let the creature throw its fit and fly off undeterred by its movements, not even blinking.

"I feel the need to do a bit more tonight Alfred. Gotham's still got those petty thugs and criminals running around at night. Not to mention Bruce thinks that I'm not fully ready yet to take on the responsibilities he once did 25 years ago."

"Master Bruce believes that you still need more time training to harness and sharpen your skills. We both are impressed at the progress you've made." Ben was annoyed by Bruce and Alfred, believing that he needed more time to train. The feats he accomplished as a 17-year-old were nothing short of amazing, and suicidal. If it weren't for Bruce he may not have been here today after what he did, but it was at that night that he proved himself to Bruce.

They finally entered the end of the tunnel the stairway taking a sharp right and inside was a massive cave. A hard steel floor surrounding both men accompanied by a series of large supercomputers with their screens fixed together side by side were at the room's center. Followed by a small series of rooms that were behind the computer and fanned out with walls. Each part of this massive cave could be seen from one room to another. Below the computer was a forensics laboratory that was neat and tidy. From the right to the massive computer was a small dojo with mannequins, monster tires, weights, a treadmill, a plethora of gymnastics and stealth equipment, and a targeting range. Above the computer to its left was a massive hole leading out from a waterfall where a small black jet with its wings pointing forward and its long nose captured the most attention of its appearance. There was then a massive gaping hole in the midst of the main room as the computer sat next to the hole leading to the caves ground near a running river. Right above that was a room with a stretcher with medical tools and supplies.

Ben had to admit the cave was vast and it was constructed by Bruce's ancestors for escaped slaves to hide and retreat from the world back in the 1700's. This place was once an Aladdin's Cave of Wonders for Ben, now it was his home, his workshop, his gym, his place of inspiration. The bats continued to chirp about the cave as the running water was also echoing throughout the area. Alfred looked worried as Ben approached a small portion of the room, as two sliding panels separated in opposite directions. A small capsule pod arose from the ground with a small whirring sound. It was sleek and silver as it was much larger than Ben, though not gargantuan. His dark brown eyes darted right for the seam of the doors where they started to part slowly. Steam poured out as the pod as its doors opened and revealed a glass case that opened up as well with nothing but a costume inside.

The costume was a union suit that bore a black and blue theme. The whole suit was designed originally to be used in the military, a survival suit for high defense and maximum comfort. Though it heavily lacked in mobility when he first wore it and had some of those features removed after his first test run, and Ben completely redesigned it. Its main two components were a skin-tight leather suit with hard points, salvaging the weathertech from the original design. The weathertech was built in to stabilize the human body's temperature in extreme conditions.

The outer layer consists of a hard armor plating that was inspired by medieval knights and crusaders from the dark ages. It was mostly kevlar with an outer metal layer that was both light and effect allowing for maximum movement and defense for his core and chest. The same metal was covering his shoulder blades and in his back concealing a body zipper that the automotive armor conceals and re-seals back into place. Though only bits of kevlar were on the upper legs and arms.

The same black and blue armor pieces continued to its shins and feet where high armored boots ended the union suit to the ground. The gauntlets were decked out in this armor as well with fins that extruded with a curve and were around a middle finger's length and incredibly sharp. They also were folded back and could extend forward for offensive and defensive capability. On the left gauntlet was a forearm tablet that was linked to many of his devices that Ben could use. The cape fell behind the suit flowing freely but was much more than just a massive sheet of fabric that was compensating. It was kevlar woven with micro tech that allowed itself to harden into a glider and form wings. When putting this massive suit on, it can roll into the shoulder armor above the zipper for easy access.

The cowl was that of a motorcyclist's helmet with two sharp ears pointing upward and slightly curving forward. It prioritized mobility and was nowhere near as bulky as a helmet and while merely a mask, it had many different capabilities that were essential. Such as the heads-up display or H.U.D. It was the only part of the suit that needs to be manually put on as it rests on the back neck armor following the spine. The neck was slightly armored to protect his vital arteries though allowed free movement and connected beautifully to the cape on the shoulders.

The dark golden belt around the waist with multiple shaped pouches of cylinders, boxes, and clamps for holding a plethora of tools. Then there was Ben's favorite part, the iconic bat on his chest where its wings flared upward slightly and extruded with a beautiful curve that made the sharped box-like head of the bat and its pointed ears stand out. However, if there were any more flaws in the design of the suit itself there was only one. He was screwed if his scar on his leg started to itch.

Ben entered the pod before it swiftly closed with an audible 'hiss'. Alfred watched and gulped anxiously, he has seen this transformation many times over but never got used to it. It was only a minute later that the pod opened once more. A transformed Ben walked out with the armored suit now fully attached to his body. This transformation scared Alfred, but he never showed his fear, as Bruce did that years ago. With loud low booming clip-clops from his armored boots and shin guards, Ben emerged from the pod. The suit had attached to his body and in his now heavily armored palms were his clothes all neatly folded.

Alfred was able to do the math from past experiences. 45 seconds to fold all his clothes with his shoes neatly placed on top, 15 seconds for Ben to step into the suit, have it on and unmasked. Ben had placed his clothes in the pod allowing it to shut as he walked away and allowed the pod to submerge into the floor. He walked to Alfred and past him towards the massive supercomputer that flashed the words.

"BAT COMPUTER ONLINE… VOICE RECOGNITION REQUIRED." There were three passcodes that all were vastly different, not by words, but by voice and tone. Ben walked closer toward the large chair and pushed it aside letting it slowly roll to the left and spoke calmly. His voice slightly echoing into what they both along with Bruce called, the Bat-Cave.

"Michael, Cadence, Dunbar."

With those words, the screen flashed a bright neon electric blue and opened up a map of Gotham and many other windows. Such as Police Scanner, Weather & Climate, Objectives, Etc. The objectives window was the first Ben had his eyes on and growled as it was empty. Normally it would have green lights with written tasks that needed to be complete and linked directly into his H.U.D but no objectives would mean that tonight would be free roam crime fighting. That should never happen in Gotham, there is always something going on. Whether it was a drug deal or weapon smuggling, the City of Gotham had something rotting in her 24/7. Alfred then walked up behind Ben looking at the screen as well as the layout of Gotham city. Ben heard his first step and even his quiet sigh as Alfred then approached him from behind.

"It looks like you've hit all of Black Mask's major drug sites, though the police are still considering you as a threat." Alfred commented.

"They always will Alfred, until they root out the crooked cops from the real officers. I'm headed to Black Gate, going to chat with one of Black Masks informants." Ben pressed a few keys on the Bat-Computer and a new objected popped up reading

"INTEROGATE BLACK MASK INFORMANT... OBJECTIVES UPDATED."

He then began to walk in a quick timed manner to the bat-shaped plane above them that was called the Bat-Wing. Pressing one button on his forearm pad, the Bat-Wings engines fired up. Its engines bent down and kept a constant thrust to enter a small vertical takeoff state or V.T.O.L for short. The strong winds caused Ben's cape to fly behind him wildly. Alfred then attempted to speak above the jet engines.

"You may need to part ways from Bruce in this field and try and incorporating the GCPD as a," Ben immediately snapped back at interrupting Alfred. Alfred never wanted to admit it but when that suit was on, whoever it be Bruce or Ben, it changed them.

"Alfred the GCPD is as corrupt as they come. They are as bad as the crooks that they, no, I put behind bars. In this town, the law and a few signatures from Gotham's government are nowhere near as effective, or as fast, as fear and a good fist. That's why Gotham crime is plummeting during the night and is trying unsuccessfully hard to continue in broad daylight." The cockpit of the Bat-Wing opened as the engines reached its constant velocity. Waiting for Ben to jump in and set a flight course. He was prepared to jump before Alfred interrupted.

"Master Ben, I do hate to ask you this, but you are young still as a man with much to learn, and I hate to poke a nerve, but with that state of mind, what makes you different than the officers you claim are crooked?" Ben's head swung right to Alfred his eyes gleaming with anger, but kept calm as he approached his lifelong best friend. It was surprising to Alfred how quick Ben fired back. The anger behind his voice was that of Bruce's. Almost as if they were one in the same.

"It's because unlike them, I can't be swayed by money, sex, drugs, or alcohol. Like justice I am a one-way street, you break the law you pay the price. As long as criminals in the city remain cowardly and superstitious I clean those city streets, unlike GCPD. Why? Because if a criminal tries to rob, rape, or even kill someone else under the thick of night, they're not scared of cops anymore. But now that criminal hesitates and looks behind their shoulders constantly because I could be right behind them! I'm their worst nightmare! I am what this city needs; I am Gotham's Dark Knight!"

Ben then jumped right into the cockpit landing perfectly in the seat of the Bat-Wing as the glass closed silencing the outside world; he looked towards Alfred as they shared an uncomfortable eye contact. After a few more button presses, Ben grasped the flight controls. Causing the Bat-Wing to turn 180 degrees towards the mouth of the waterfall, he pushed engine throttle to full power, flying right out of the Bat-Cave and off into the Gotham night sky. Alfred then watched saddened by the turn of events letting the Bat-Wing take off and looked at his watch reading 8:28 P.M. He then sat down at the Bat-Computer awaiting Ben or Bruce's voice.

"Okay, Wade. How much dirt can you dig up on Bruce Wayne?"

"Kim I'm appalled that you don't know much about him, though I'm shocked that you guys actually got to sit down and talk to the guy." Kim had contacted Wade in the taxi as Aunt Caryl, Ron and herself wanted to do a bit of research, to Aunt Caryl it was for fun and possibly an opportunity to tease Kim about Ben a little more. Ron knew exactly why Kim was still skeptical that Bruce was corrupt trying to find any kind of dirt on his perfect reputation. Wade then got some information which wasn't too important to Kim.

"Bruce Wayne is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wayne Enterprises. The company works around the clock to help aid any or all individuals in Gotham and provide a better future as a whole for the city itself. He is considered to be the 6th richest man in the world as well as one of one of the most highly respected men in the country as well." Pictures of Bruce flashed on her small screen. Most of him in the same suit he wore today and others with him standing at a podium with adoring crowds cheering with him waving back. Flashing the same smile he did today.

"Wade I kind of already figured that out today at lunch anything more, you know juicy?" Kim just grunted.

"Let me get back to you and dig up some real dirt." Wade said as he disconnected. Ron looked over her shoulder still in his outfit from when they went out to lunch while Kim was in her mission clothes. Aunt Caryl wore a black short dress that hugged her waist and ruffled out towards her knees. The taxi driver was able to drive through the city of Gotham with relative ease.

As he pulled up to Gotham Harbor a small boat was prepped with Blackgate in its sights. Kim noticed a square building out in the distance. It was on a secluded Island with no road access, no roads, no bridges just one little island to hold some of Gotham's worst. Kim looked towards Aunt Caryl with a puzzled look as she was paying the taxi driver in cash. As she approached the group Rufus looked out of Ron's pocket puzzled as the lighthouse of Blackgate whose bright illumination rotated around the waters of the island. Ron then beat her to the question.

"Um… Miss Caryl, are we going to be riding on the boat?"

"Yes Ron, There are only two ways to get into Blackgate, by boat or by helicopter, and their not on the island for long, once you're on the island you're stuck there until they arrive on an hourly schedule, though they mostly arrive upon request of the employee's." There was an officer standing by the boat of off the docks. Wearing a standard blue uniform with hardly any badges of rank, though he had the GCPD gold standard badge on his right side. His hazel eyes watched as the group exited the taxi. He cocked an eyebrow as he stared at the two kids and looked back at Aunt Caryl, he then returned to his original pose as he put the pieces together in his head. The Officer then lifted his cap from his short blonde hair and nodded to Caryl. Kim felt a little bit easy meeting her first good encounter with a Gotham Police Officer. After everything she heard about them, they couldn't be trusted. The police officer then spoke with a calm deep soft voice.

"Good Evening Dr. O'Malley. Didn't you say that you were taking off tonight?"

"Yes Officer Kerman, but we both know how Commissioner Loeb is. Plus we have another beaten victim."

"No way? Care to share who it was?"

"That's confidential."

"Oh." Officer Kerman sighed as he stepped aside to let the three passengers step into the boat. Kim and Ron sat comfortably on the other side of Aunt Caryl, as Officer Kerman revved the boat engines on and they made way for Blackgate. Kim and Ron huddled together to continue having their conversation with Wade. Caryl and Officer Kerman were exchanging talks about work and later stopped. Aunt Caryl then proceeded to jot down a few notes on her small notepad and pen. Kim was practically on the edge of her seat as Wade continued to scan and type looking for any sort of dirt on Bruce, but what about Ben?

"Wade look up Bruce's assistant, Ben? See if you can find anything?" Kim was interrupted by Ron showing his usual cocky yet dense attitude. He sat back with one arm on the head of the booth he was sitting on and the other moving about with his body language. Kim was not a fan of Ron's more dense side. Even Rufus gave him a puzzled look as he heard what Ron said.

"Kim, we're not going to find anything on Bruce if we have Wade look up his secretary, intern… whatever Ben is. It's not like their related in any way. Oh Wade see if you can find the nearest Bueno Nacho I'm starving!" Rufus jumped in joy at Ron's comment, if there was any way to get Ron to do practically anything, it was bargaining with 2 chimiritio's and a naco from his favorite fast food joint.

"Ron! Can you get your nacho cheese filled brain back in gear! Focusing on Bruce Wayne here and his assistant Ben!"

"Kimmie, I told you I can get his digits. If you really want we can go by Wayne Enterprises tomorrow and," Aunt Caryl held an evil sarcastic sly grin on her face as she saw Kim's face turn red with both anger and embarrassment, even Ron backed off a bit. The uneasy feeling was instantly slaughtered with Wade's comment.

"You mean Bruce's illegitimate son?"

"What?!" All three said that word as Wade's statement sank in. Aunt Caryl even dropped her pad and pen she was jotting down notes in. Kim's eyes along with Ron's practically were glued to the screen. Wade then pressed a single key to flash a few short pictures of Ben which mostly consisted of him accompanying Bruce by his side with the Wayne Enterprises. There were other shots of him as well jogging down the street, talking to a few girls in Gotham who were obviously trying their best to woo him. Wade had the group's full attention as he spoke.

"Yep. Benjamin Cadence Wayne was adopted at the age of 7 by Bruce after they found him traveling the Wayne Manor property alone with a bloody right leg in the cold month of December of 2001. He is 24 now and helps run Wayne Enterprises along with Bruce. Though no information on Ben's original parents or even why he was at the manor to begin with. After a month of living at the Manor and no one claimed Ben, Bruce took him in and raised him as his own with the help of the family butler Alfred Pennyworth."

"Thanks Wade, just shoot back if you find anything else." With the transmission ended Kim and Ron looked at each other for a second. When Bruce and Ben were together they acted as if they were completely unrelated. They acted professionally, like Co-workers even. Kim just recollected her thoughts for a bit she didn't even notice that they had arrived. Officer Kerman killed the engines and parked the boat next to the dock. Officer Kerman only said one clear thing with disdain in his voice.

"We're here."


	4. Welcome to Blackgate

The boat slowly docked next to a railing alongside its left wall. Kim looked around noticing the murky water and the moss growing on the walls as the boat slowly came to a stop. Ron & Rufus looked about in disgust of the conditions. Aunt Caryl didn't even wait for the boat to stop as she stepped over the murky water and calmly walked next to another swat officer, who was positioned by the main door. Kim and Ron soon followed, with Ron nearly falling into the water below, twice. His shaking hands gripping the ice cold bars on the concrete floor before Kim had to pull him back on his feet. Officer Kerman watched the whole ordeal and couldn't help but chuckle.

It wasn't until he looked up and noticed Aunt Caryl's hand signal. Her middle & pointer fingers along with her thumb were extended outward (ASL for the number 3), while her wrist began to rotate before pointing to the right out towards open water. Officer Kerman understood the message, to come back in 30 minutes. The swat officer holding his riot shield and baton stepped in front of Kim and Ron as they moved towards the door. Aunt Caryl with her badge clipped to her new suit walked in front of the two, signaling towards the officer that they were with her.

The officer looked down for a slight moment, then stepped aside to move away from a green indicator pad he was blocking. Aunt Caryl pressed a 6-digit passcode that Kim failed to get a good look at. The door creaked open after unlocking and Aunt Caryl proceeded to follow the staircase leading upwards. Kim followed with Ron right behind her. The staircase hallway echoed the sound of their footsteps as they continued. Caryl stopped at the top of the staircase and looked towards them both.

"You two stay right behind me." Kim noticed the glare in her Aunt's expression and watched as she continued her path. She couldn't really tell if it was from being protective, or downright furious with Commissioner Loeb. They walked into a room that had a booth to the left. Aunt Caryl just passed it as the officer was, as she predicted, asleep on the job. Kim just silently followed, Ron did as well, looking at all his surroundings as the mossy walls were replaced with cold gray steel.

The 'clip-clop' of Aunt Caryl's heels could be heard as she approached a solid steel door entering another 6-digit code. Kim could only wonder just how secure Blackgate was. Why would there be two separate doors with a guard posted buy each one, and a different code just to open each of them? It seemed a bit excessive until Kim had flashbacks from previous security systems, including the McHenry Laser Grid from Mr. Paisley's mansion.

Ron continued to look around almost so that the door nearly shut on him as he barely was trapped with the guard. Aunt Caryl made a sharp left, towards another staircase.

"This way is towards several rooms where I can keep an eye on you two, and let me make this abundantly clear. I love that you two wanted to help, but you do exactly as I tell you to, these 'cops' are as crooked as they come." She warned.

"That hurts Caryl." A voice called from the right.

Kim, Ron, & Rufus poking out of Ron's pocket looked towards their right as a man slowly walked towards them. He had big square glasses over his hazel eyes. His hair had a part to the left that rested on his slightly wrinkled forehead. Sporting the combination of auburn and brown that slowly was turning gray right above his ears. His bushy mustache rested on his upper lip to where it was completely hidden. He had a rough jaw line that was squared at the chin, and his neck seemed equally squared. His cyan shirt and brown tie were covered by a thick brown overcoat. His black suit pants followed downward to his black leather shoes. Caryl took a sigh of relief and actually cracked a small smile.

"Hello Gordon, it's good to see a friendly face here."

"Hello Caryl, my thoughts exactly." Kim took note just how relaxed Caryl was. She no longer barred the scowl that she carried with her nearly the whole way here. She looked to be at peace with Gordon and he looked the same. Gordon's hazel eyes then darted towards Kim and Ron, his left eyebrow raised up and stared at the two for a bit taking the time to analyze them both, even catching Rufus in Ron's pocket.

"Y-You have kids?"

"Gordon, I ought to slap you. This is my niece Kim Possible and her friend... I'm sorry I forgot your name," Aunt Caryl replied laughing awkwardly to herself. Kim couldn't help but roll her eyes and laugh in her mind a bit as Aunt Caryl did what normally everyone else does. Ron even looked at her with an expression that was a mixture of annoyance and confusion. Kim knew that it was a total accident and Ron seemed a bit absent from the whole situation, but to her, it still was kind of funny.

"W-What? It's me Ron Stoppable. I was with you and Kim practically all day yesterday, spell it out with me R-O-N," Ron continued.

"So you're the Kim Possible I've read quite a bit about huh? I'm Captain James Gordon, though people call me Jim from time to time," Gordon replied and kept his hands in his jacket pocket making his posture straightened.

"Yep, Just doing my 'save the world' thing! It's nice to meet you too Captain." Gordon smiled for a moment at the girl's words, but his eyes quickly started another tale. His eyes closed as his left hand went to his face, his thumb and pointer finger pressing against his nasal bridge as he shook his head. Kim was confused, did she say something wrong?

"Oh God Caryl, please do not tell me you're about to get your own niece involved in this,"

"Jesus Christ, absolutely not! What kind of family member do you think I am?" Caryl replied in haste.

Gordon just smiled and chuckled slightly. At least some humor got into this place. This got Kim's gears turning. She had accurately guessed that Captain Gordon was a man that meant business. Though his comment revealed that whatever is going on in Gotham, these simple beatings as she was told about were getting a lot of attention.

A pair of doors opened up and a man with a doctor's lab coat walked towards Gordon soon leaning into him to whisper something. Aunt Caryl just looked to the side, both Kim and Ron were attempting to decipher what the message could be from the doctor by reading Gordon's facial expression. His face went unmoved, like a stone perched on the sand of a beach that didn't yield to the waves. Gordon just nodded and told the doctor to return from where he came. He looked towards Aunt Caryl and nodded towards her and they both started to follow the doctor. Kim and Ron soon followed.

The doctor whoever he was privately talking to Gordon, but did not wish to eavesdrop. He looked towards Aunt Caryl, Kim, and Ron. With Caryl giving them both a quick warning that whatever they see will remain secret including to Kim's parents. Kim looking now a bit concerned nodded in compliance. She felt her heart race, the same lingering feeling returned to her skin, crawling more around her body as she wanted to hug herself in fear, but stayed headstrong following her aunt.

Rufus finally was looking around the hallway. Looking down from Ron's pocket he saw his reflection from shining tile floor. His nose squinted as the scents of many different kinds of highly concentrated cleaners invaded his nose. He sniffled slightly, the strong aroma seemed to be everywhere for the poor naked mole rat. As the group walked closer he noticed a few things. He looked up hearing the engines of a plane flying low in the air, and a strong pungent smell, the smell of fresh blood.

Ben had been in radio silence for the past 5 minutes. While 5 minutes surely wasn't a long time while traveling, it felt like an eternity to him. Stuck in his mind was everything he said towards Alfred especially with how rude he was towards him. All Alfred was trying to do was make sure he was safe, he was doing his job. Just like he always had when Ben first learned how to ride a bike after his leg incident.

The scar itched like crazy this time, he growled to himself hoping that his little espionage would keep his mind off his leg and back in focus. Bruce taught Ben that one of the worst things that could ever happen on a mission was losing focus and getting distracted. That's all it takes for the enemy to swiftly take the advantage in a confrontation, though that has yet to happen. His mind started to trail a bit, thinking about all the training that Bruce made him go through, most specifically his stealth and training missions. Ben remembered a particular test when he was 20.

The test was simple, practice take-down techniques and stealth by incapacitating a live animal. He remembered the forests outside of Wayne Manor, the cold winter air, lush greenery and sounds of the other animals around him. Taking each and every step carefully, as not to shuffle anything around with his feet that could scare wildlife. His prey was a full-grown buck. Though it was more than just himself and a single deer, it was a whole herd of bucks, does, and fawns all ranging in size and facing different directions. This complicated things and wasn't exactly what Ben had planned, but he found a way to improvise.

There was a large tree with some branches hovering right above the animal and it was perfect. According to Bruce's teachings, no one looked up when searching for a threat, not even animals. Ben waited for the right moment, patiently watching as other deer looked his way and remained lifeless and still like a hardened stone. Then his moment came, a small gust of the wind blew the warm colored leaves off of the branches of the trees and off the ground. Ben jumped not for the deer but for the tree. His hands clamped to the rough bark of the wood as he silently climbed up and towards the branch. He froze as a doe perked her head up. Looking around aimlessly trying to find a source of the disturbance she had detected.

Ben didn't move, he didn't blink, he didn't breathe, the only thing that was moving was his heart. A moment later and the doe put her head back to the grass below, and as predicted didn't look up. Ben crept further and further, his feet right above the buck he had chosen. Ben held his breath and held his arms out wide. Like a trapeze artist, he felt his heartbeat for a few moments, closing his eyes to ignore everything else. He Mentally removed all distractions, leaving just him, the forest, the leaves, and the buck below.

His eyes shot open before he dropped down, grabbing the antlers of the buck as he fell to the ground and bringing the animal closer to the dirt. His force and momentum caught the animal off guard as it began to holler and panic forcing the other deer to scatter. It's head wildly shot upwards trying to free itself, but Ben figured the deer would attempt this. His left leg swooped underneath the animals back legs, causing it to lose balance on itself and falling away from Ben. He let go of the bucks furthest antler so he wouldn't tumble over and switched hands on the buck's antler that he originally had control of.

He jumped over swiftly to the bucks back as to avoid it's flailing legs and hooves from kicking him. The animal struggled more furiously now that Ben had his knee down onto the animal. Applying his weight to its neck trying to see if he could slow down its heart rate, but unfortunately, the animal still panicked. With no sign of slowing down, Ben was forced to use more hostile measures. He raised his left arm and made a fist and pulled the animal's head up slightly with his right hand. His left fist slammed into the animal's face knocking the buck out cold.

Ben remembered how he felt sort of regretful. He was no fan of animal abuse, but the deer would have surely either gotten away or even attempted to fight back. His black stealth outfit was not meant for battle against anything wielding sharp objects. He liked to think that he had no choice in the matter. Less he returned back to Bruce and Alfred with nothing to show for it.

Ben lowered his hand near the buck's mouth, still faintly feeling its breath against the back of his hand. He lifted the male deer and tossed it over his shoulder and walked back towards the Wayne Manor. His hands decided to sling the other half of the unconscious deer over his neck while holding its hooves together on their respective shoulder.

After what was a 25-minute walk, he placed the deer back on the ground to rest his muscles. Ben wanted to take in the forest's beauty. As he never got the chance too, since the first time he there he was crawling on its floor, with blood oozing form his leg. He remembered clearly that it must have been 30 minutes after his catch that everything went terribly wrong. As he stretched his muscles he felt the skin on his back crawl. He felt as if he was being watched; something had turned the hunter into the hunted.

Ben had turned to the left swiftly to find a massive grizzly bear snarling and roaring down at him from an elevated position of rock. Ben froze for a moment to analyze the situation. The grizzly was female, her claws protruded and her canines flashed backed with its iconic roar. Its lips folded outward and its massive paws extended into the air. It must have wanted the deer. Even so all Ben would have to do was just walk away. Taking down a buck in its herd without any of the other deer knowing proved his stealth & take-down capabilities, but this was beyond what needed to be done. However, the roars of the bear woke the buck, and it fled the scene with clumsy haste.

The grizzly landed back onto its paws as it stepped down from its stone. It descended onto the forest floor Ben was on before it stood back on its hind legs casting a shadow over him. The bear's paws started swiping at the air as it roared fiercely. Ben didn't jot this down in his head as predatory behavior, but territorial. He remained still unfazed yet cautious at the bear's patterns swiping at him trying to lure Ben closer to her massive arms.

Ben couldn't turn tail and run as the bear would surely follow him through the woods. He remembered that he held his arms outward trying to scare off the bear with some form of size intimidation trick. He roared back hoping that would work. The grizzly suddenly lunged forward snapping its jaws and swiped away at Ben as best as it could.

Ben knew he was physically outmatched in both weight and strength. He only needed to tire the beast out before he could give a good beat down himself, or at the very least make her surrender with a few good series of hooks. The massive grizzly stood on its hind legs again and left a rare opening. Ben took advantage of it, darting for the bear's center of gravity.

He jumped, moving his legs forward first his feet landed right against creature's chest causing it to roar in both shock and slight pain. Ben's knees tucked down and he somersaulted backward using his right heel to connect to the bear's jaw. He remembered just how hard that bone felt, like kicking a slab of concrete.

The grizzly stumbled backward still able to land on all fours as it roared furiously before sprinting with rage in its eyes. Her right paw raised into the air as it swiped at Ben right as he jumped out of the way in time. Ben saw its claws dig into the tree behind him, the marks were vivid and deep. Ben landed behind the bear as it massive bulky form attempted to turn around and snap its jaws at him. Ben moved his hand out of the way just in the knick of time. He felt the wind rush from its teeth as her jaws clamped shut just as Ben saw another opening. After all, a bear's offensive capabilities were all in the front, the back was a different story.

With a quick karate chop, Ben's right hand struck the bears nostrils, sending the beast into a dazed fury. Ben threw himself against the upper spine of the bear, grabbing its ears tightly and pulling it back acting as if it were some odd breed of horse. He kept his legs behind the bear's arms so to avoid any swipes from its massive claws. The bear bucked and reared in complete fury as it did everything it could to shake Ben off but to no avail.

Suddenly the bear then did something unexpected, standing on its hind legs it threw itself into the back of the same stone wall it was once perched on. Slamming Ben into the wall along with the bear's weight. The pain was immense as the bear continued to do this such thing before Ben had to give in, as the slams made him go dizzy and too weak to hold on any longer. He fell to the forest floor disoriented, struggling to stand simply until the bear made a successful swipe to his shoulder. Ben tumbled down a nearby hill and once he stopped, he felt his left shoulder and arm almost go completely numb as it dripped with blood.

As he slowly stood up the bear started to charge again racing down the hill. He was able to dodge the twin swipes from her claws as it was quickly followed up by a snapping of her jaws. Ben threw his right knee into the bear's nose causing her to flinch slightly but the bear retaliated quickly throwing herself towards Ben, putting him into the worst situation, face up underneath the bear directly facing it. He threw his arms up defending from the bear's constant onslaught of slashing and biting.

Things got real bloody then, with Ben feeling himself growing weaker by the second. He needed to do something and quick before he lost too much blood. Playing a wild card he played dead, soon relaxing and letting his heartbeat slow. The bear kept sniffing along his bloodied arms and shoulders licking him slightly. Ben waited patiently for the right moment once more.

The bear suddenly looked up hearing something that Ben couldn't truly make of. He didn't care opportunity came and that was what he was waiting for. With his lower back raised up and using his whole body as a spring, Ben shot himself upward making a clean double kick against the bear with both heels slamming into her lower jaw. Stunning the bear instantly as Ben launched himself behind her, landing perfectly.

Ben sprinted back into the fight. Launching himself once more by delivering a powerful right knee to the bear, directly on her now slightly red, moist nose. The bear stumbled to her left before Ben grabbed her ears and with all his strength threw her into the side of a large tree, her face hitting the tree bark before falling onto the ground. The bear tried to get up before Ben's fist slammed into her eye. Now engulfed with rage the bear swiped in every direction roaring in pain.

Ben jumped grabbing hold of the bear's neck as it stood up and with his body weight and momentum caused it to fall backward and land hard on its back. Grunting at Ben, the bear stood and soon tried once again to pin Ben under her massive weight with both paws outward. Ben squatted to the floor, his left arm tucked backward and at just the right moment jumped with all his strength, and connected a powerful uppercut to the bear's jaw. Shooting the beasts upper body backward, only to be followed up Bens right fist, slamming into the bear's nose, knocking it out.

Both fists hit like thunder and grew numb slightly as the bear laid limp. Ben went to a flurry of mood swings, from proud roaring to himself, too tired, then concerned. While it would have been very impressive, Ben would rather let the animal live. He put the back of his palm to the bear's mouth, thankfully it was still breathing.

Suddenly Ben heard the grass rustle behind him. He stood ready for another fight growling to himself but stopped wide-eyed. A small bear cub with terror in her eyes emerged whimpering and calling out to the larger bear. Ben sighed heavily before he fell to the forest floor on his butt. He glanced back at what he had done to the mother bear, she was just protecting her cub.

Ben couldn't help but slam his fist into the ground frustrated and cursing himself for being so stupid to not see it earlier. He stood up and simply walked away. Watching the cub use her nose to nuzzle her mother before it started to move again. By then Ben had already left the scene back towards the Wayne manor, pouring more of his blood into the soil.

That entire fiasco nearly sent him to the emergency room. His arms were dripping red the entire walk back. Alfred was shocked, though his normal monotone self the whole time he patched and stitched Ben's wounds up. Bruce originally wasn't told and didn't figure out till later the next morning what had happened. Just thought the whole ordeal was foolish and he was right. It was foolish to take on a bear, but nevertheless, both were there for him.

A beeping noise interrupted his entire trace of memories as the Batwing passed over Blackgate.

"Shit!" Ben cursed to himself as he slammed a button next to him and the floor beneath him opened up. The seat unlatched its harness on him and twirled 180 degrees causing him to free fall straight to the compound. As he descended the Batwing shot up into the clouds with thunder rolling in the distance far off into the sea. The wind rushed past his mask and chin as the rest of his body continued gravity's acceleration. A number appeared on his Heads up display in the upper left corner displaying the distance from the ceiling in meters.

150 meters… 140.2 meters… Faster and faster he fell, waiting to activate his capes ability to become a pair of giant bat wings. 101 meters… Not yet… 22.6 meters… His arms shot out, legs stretched outward together and his cape sprung into his signature wings. Gravity was suppressed as he glided, as well as air resistance aiding to slow him down.

With a loud clang sound, His left fist slammed into the metal below. His right arm and palm were stretched out to his right. Head held low with his chest against his right knee and foot planted strongly on the ground aligned with his left pec muscle. The left knee was barely off the ground with his toes holding his left leg up. His eyes darted around making sure no cops were there. Standing up with the coast clear his made his way towards the ventilation shaft.

"Nailed it." His voice deeper with a short raspiness to it.

What Kim saw shocked her as her eyes went wide. Ron was speechless himself with Rufus lowering himself in Ron's pocket only taking quick glances. A man laid on a hospital bed, hooked up to the same devices she would see back at the Middleton Hospital where her mother worked. However, the patients there were incapacitated through the drugs that the doctors gave them to perform brain surgery. This was nothing like that.

His right eye was black and bruised that would look to be barley able to open. A lower fat lip with blood occasionally dripping down his chin to his neck was staining the bed. Bruises along his cheeks and a tooth was missing from his upper row of teeth. His breathing was slow and heavy sometimes spiking to a raspy. The black hair attempted to cover his sore forehead. Kim wanted to look away. Even the henchmen she and Ron fought didn't look this bad at all. In fact, they went down pretty easily, but this? This was insane.

Aunt Caryl growled at herself watching the man, he was of course nowhere near death just barely able to keep himself awake. Kim clenched her fist with anger beaming from her face. Gordon just shook his head looking towards the man. As he pulled the doctor aside, Kim knew this time she had to listen to everything they said.

"Dr. Burton, who do we got here?" Gordon asked with his arms crossed, sounding depressed, his hazel eyes looking downward at the victim. The doctor, thin and a bit older than Gordon had his wavy brown hair and brown eyes lowered to the clipboard. His unfashionable bow tie and plain circular monocle like glasses that were attached to a string attempted to steal the attention away from the wrinkles on his face as his white lab coat shifted with his movements. He finally spoke his voice held a pinch of fear.

"His name is, uh, let me see here. Johnny Caprice, age 30, and appears to have a substantial criminal record. M-Mostly small time though like theft, DUI However, he is charged with sexual assault and even a few murder cases which turned out to be a ruse. How he got free was due to bail."

"So he is a criminal just like the rest, following the same pattern too." Gordon's left hand rubbed his chin as he watched the beaten man on the stretcher. Kim couldn't believe that someone continued to do such things in Gotham. How could she not hear of this? Aunt Caryl stuttered as she spoke.

"I… I can't stand this much longer Gordon, we need to act against this now! I understand that we need to keep the public quiet about this, but if this continues… "

"I know Caryl, but the man who they claim is responsible for this just doesn't exist. That's a folktale from the old days of Gotham way back in the eighties. There have already been public announcements made saying he isn't real. If we have to denounce those statements, that would make the GCPD even less trustworthy than it already is." Gordon fired back.

The two adults continued to argue about things that Kim seemed to miss. Who were they talking about, and why is it causing such controversy? Her eyes diverted back to the man on the stretcher. She couldn't help but want to comfort Johnny, even though he was similar scum that has done petty crimes. Sure he deserved some rehabilitation, but a full course beating that left him looking nearly deformed was way out of line. Kim took a step closer to the nervous and fidgety doctor. He was too consumed with his clipboard and paper to realize Kim had approached him and nearly jumped he was so shocked.

"Dr. Burton, can you tell me what exactly happened, and any idea who could have done this?" Kim looked at the Doctor directly in his grayish eyes. He gulped slightly licking his chapped lips. Kim noticed that Gordon and Aunt Caryl were no longer debating and paying full attention to the Doctor. Dr. Burton took a deep breath flipping through papers and answered.

"Johnny was found 2 days ago during the middle of the night as he and a group of his pals were discussing something he refused to share, probably more crime. Suddenly he and his group were jumped by a man cloaked in black and he was the last to go down. The rest of his friends woke up and left him. Johnny was diagnosed with a rather obvious black eye & fat lip along with a broken jaw and even some teeth missing." This made Gordon grunt to himself as he looked out the window where he noticed another man walking down the hallway wearing a suit. He saw it as nothing though as he went towards the left towards the office rooms.

Aunt Caryl just looked down at Johnny, wanting to punch a wall she was so mad her skin flustered. Rufus had even removed himself from his pocket and stood near his hand whining to himself about the condition. Suddenly Johnny moved, coughing up some blood as his heart rate on a nearby monitor started to speed up to a conscious state. The group was shocked as he began to speak.

"W-Where the heck am I?" Johnny asked, barely awake.

"You're back at Blackgate Johnny," Gordon spoke up.

"Son-ova Bitch, I ain't do anything this..." Aunt Caryl interrupted putting her hand on Johnny's. Kim saw it as a way of comfort for the poor guy.

"You're right, What has happened to you was wrong and unlawful. Do you remember my name? Dr. Caryl O'Malley? I'm a Psychiatrist here in Gotham." Her soft eyes stared into Johnny's with a loving smile. Yes, Johnny did some terrible things, but the punishment that was given to him gave him a sort of leeway from such judgment. Johnny looked towards Gordon who just nodded.

"Y-yeah, Hey doc... guess I'm back to being a screw up huh?"

"Don't call yourself that Johnny, you have the opportunity to fix all of your wrongs and make things right, but you have to tell me, what happened to you?" Caryl asked. A scowl appeared on his battered face afterward and looked towards Aunt Caryl taking in a deep breath.

"You know what, I'm done with this bullshit. Constantly getting in trouble and spiraling my life down into a hole. I'm just done and want a normal life. I will tell you everything." He stated coughing slightly. Kim and Ron leaned closer.

"That's good Johnny, now tell me everything." Aunt Caryl asked.

"Me and the guys were meeting up to find a way to sneak some kind of goods into the Gotham Harbor. I don't know exactly what it is, we are never told the specifics. We all gathered in a circle to whisper about it. That's when it happened, jumped us all at the same time. I saw fists flying, legs arching, getting ready for a good kicking before some of us were tossed around like rag dolls. This guy just, pulverized us. I got a good look at him the last second before he gave me the beat down I got now… it was him." Kim looked towards Johnny with a cocked eye and asked the question.

"Who?" She asked. Everyone in the room for a small second looked towards Kim, then slowly turned back towards Johnny who was looking her dead in the eye with the busted scowl. A moment of silence ran as he took his time to answer his face showing more disgust.

"I-It was… The Batman."


	5. Pieces of the Puzzle

"The Batman?" Kim looked towards Johnny with a cocked eyebrow. Johnny took a deep breath before his eyes soon closed as he fell back to sleep.

"What's a Batman, some kind of monster or something?" Ron asked.

Aunt Caryl looked towards Cpt. Gordon running her hands through her short black hair. Showing signs that Kim had poked a sensitive nerve. Kim could tell due to her Aunt's facial expression and the audible 'sigh' from Gordon who rubbed the bridge of his nose. Dr. Burton had kept to a nearby corner where most of the medical equipment was. Ron had exchanged a look with Kim and even Rufus crawled up to Ron's shoulder. Aunt Caryl took a deep breath and paused for a second before an expression of concern grew to confidence. Her eyes darted right towards Gordons'. She nodded and Gordon took a deep breath. Kim recognized it as a breath of acceptance.

"No, though your choice of words isn't exactly inaccurate. The Batman is something else," Gordon took a moment to look at Caryl with a small scowl, a look of disapproval for something unknown. Caryl shared the facial expression almost turning away. "Comparable to such things like the Chupacabra and the Jersey Devil, and like them he apparently has secluded himself to a single area, that being Gotham City. With hardly any sightings or evidence to pin him against these beatings, I think he is a complete myth that everyone is making-"

"You call this a myth Gordon!?" Aunt Caryl furiously pointed towards Johnny. Kim took a step back as his Aunt who began to chew through Gordon. Rufus chirped and retreated into Ron's pocket.

"Hundreds of people, men, and women are being carried into Gotham General Hospital beaten to a pulp! Even some of your own officers have been out for days or maybe weeks with similar injuries! That should be more than enough evidence for you, let alone raise suspicion of his existence!" She yelled.

"Caryl, think logically, please? Do you really believe that there is some guy out there dressed as a giant bat, going around at night beating up criminals? It's ridiculous, crazy-talk! You and I both know how easily corruptible the officers here are. They could easily be making the whole thing up, that way it corresponds to the beatings of the criminals." Gordon argued.

"That's because it does! Gordon will you look around at what's been happening, corrupt cops and petty criminals are the Bat's target!"

"Enough!" Both adults looked towards Kim as her face was red with frustration. Even Ron was taken back by it. Kim just had it, she couldn't take it anymore and forced her Aunt and Gordon to cease their arguing. She understood that this Batman was causing trouble, just like Prof. Dementor & Monkey Fist sure had a way of causing trouble. But even they hadn't gone to the trouble off brutally beating down cops. Just enough to get them out of the way. Kim's fist clenched tightly in her hand as a familiar dark feeling crept down her spine. She tried to fight it off, but it was stronger than ever. Ron provided a rather brave distraction.

"Let's see what Kim and I can do. We handle bad guys on a daily basis. Maybe we can-"

"Absolutely not!" Gordon fired back. He was preparing to say something else by the sharp, quick inhale of his breath. Only to be interrupted by a quick knock on the door.

"C-Come in!" Dr. Burton Awkwardly announced. The door slowly swung open as a larger man entered in the room. He was rounded out and wore a large gray overcoat that contrasted with Gordon's brown, and inside his mouth was a toothpick that he chewed. Turning around closing the door tightly and locking it. His gray fedora matched his jacket and kept most of his body concealed, apart for his short black combed hair on his neck. As he turned around his facial hair was slightly stubble and a scowl seemed to have permanently burned to his face. His yellow shirt and red tie stood out the most from his build. He turned towards Gordon first, as his New Jersey accent began to flourish.

"Wanted to knock first this time, seems like you two argue like an old married couple nowadays, and Caryl what are your kids doing here?"

"Not funny Bullock. Kim, Ron, meet Detective Harvey Bullock. He's Gordon's, right-hand man. Bullock meet my niece and her friend." Aunt Caryl scoffed.

Bullock just looked towards Gordon, who gave a head nudge towards Kim and Ron. Bullock looked towards Kim and Ron a bit puzzled and just shrugged it off. though he at least said "Hey." He didn't care he had a job to do. He walked towards Gordon only to stop to examine the rather beaten down Johnny on the stretcher.

"Jesus Christ,"

"I know Bullock, not a pretty sight."

"I can see that. I just got back from the crime scene we picked this guy up from. Trying to see if I could find anything that we may have possibly missed. Now, I know you've been saying around town the Batman isn't real,"

"And…?" Gordon asked keeping his pockets full with his hands.

The group stood silently as Bullock moved his overcoats left flap slightly out. Kim immediately saw him taking out a small envelope with Bullock now looking at her with a hint of distrust in his eyes. He lumbered straight towards Cpt. Gordon and Caryl as he slowly opened it. Kim snuck behind Ron to the left where Dr. Burton even was denied a look at what was come.

"Well, we found this." Bullock dumped a small metallic black object out from inside of the envelope. Kim then was able to get a good look at the object as she snuck next to Ron. It was small easily able to fit comfortably in Bullock's hand. A small circle comprised of its center where two small sharp prongs stuck out on one side. Two curvatures followed on both ends, fanning out in the shape of dragon wings with a smooth curve and a sharp finish. The wings were folded down inwards & clasped together. Kim noticed how sharp it was at the tips of each wing, while the curves were slightly thicker. Distinguishable only by a slight light gray coloration from the rest of its dark metallic black.

Bullock suddenly put his large fingers around one end of the wings flicking the thing around as Gordon and Caryl both watched puzzled. Kim though understood what Bullock was attempting to do. She slowly walked towards the group of adults as Bullock continued to flail the black object in his hands.

"Detective Bullock, mind if I take a look at that?" Kim asked with her hand out.

Bullock then held the object tighter intending to keep police evidence out of the hands of children. He felt a hand suddenly place itself against his shoulder. Aunt Caryl confidently nodded towards Bullock who followed up by giving Kim the strange looking device.

She felt how heavy it was, running her fingertips along it softly. It was lightweight, metallic with sharp ridges and points. The corner of her eye-catching the sudden concern and maternal safety features her Aunt suddenly displayed. Ron got close as well with Rufus sniffing the device on his shoulder as Kim already had moved the object closer to the two of them. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Kimmunicator. Wade appeared yawning slightly. It was in fact 1:00 A.M. back in Middleton. Kim nervously smiled back towards Wade, seeing he was in the middle of sleeping, she was lucky he was a light sleeper.

"K-Kim, Do you know what time it is?" Wade slowly asked.

"Sorry Wade, but can you take a quick look at this item we found." She held the object at a good distance in front of the built-in camera of the Kimmunicator. Wade's computers started to light up all around him, casting their neon blue fading light against his exhausted face. On his main screen, the weird device in Kim's hand suddenly was enwrapped with neon green grid lines that matched its shape in both horizontal & vertical directions.

It only took a few moments for the grid to blink twice and a 3D rendered image began to rotate until it stopped after 3 rotations on his upper right screen. It showed a series of metal compositions but one stood out to Wade. His tired face looked towards the device and squinted carefully his eyebrow lifted up. The image shown before him was a honeycomb lattice pattern of lines with each line connection showing a ball shape. Kim noticed this and looked at Wade, hoping for a reply soon. Wade curled his fingers around his chin licking his lips focusing.

"Kim, This device is pretty hardcore. There are traces of Tungsten, Titanium, and Graphene."

"Graphene? Never heard of that one." Kim replied.

"That's because it's relatively new. Graphene was discovered in Manchester back in 2004. Two scientists discovered it by cleaning a graphite stone with scotch tape. It's an allotrope that's one atom thick, two dimensional and considered the strongest raw material in the world, much stronger than diamond. However it's not cheap, roughly 4 inches of the compound is roughly about $850. Quite an extraordinary discovery!" Dr. Burton for the first time smiled and adjusted his thick glasses slightly, obviously proud of himself. Wade was nodding in agreement.

Kim was a straight-A student, though Wade's Genius intellect always did annoy her. Wade pressed his keyboard to show Kim his exact screen he was looking at. This device had its three layers and a weird mechanism towards it. Fully mechanical and not electrical so the device had no way of jamming. Simple in design and easy to follow. Kim suddenly held its left folded wing and started to shake it around. Aunt Caryl shoved Gordon and Bullock away from her carefully going towards Kim.

"K-Kim honey I don't think you really should be-"

The device suddenly snapped to life, as if on cue, with both of its razor-like wings springing upward, and stopped when both wings were extended outwards. Kim jumped almost as the device reacted in her hand. Ron even got too close and it nearly hit his nose, thankfully he was near its thick top center rather than near its razor-sharp points. Kim's fingertips gracefully caressed its smooth, cold metal. As she balanced it in her hand she noticed how much lighter it felt. Kim moved it about between her fingers, noticing how fairly easy it was to maneuver, almost like it was meant to be thrown.

Kim turned around facing the wall farthest from everyone with the least equipment and shifted her feet slightly. Her left foot leading pointing towards the wall while her right foot was pointed towards her right, both knees slightly bent with her left arm extended out towards the wall, and her right slowly arching up. The tip of the bat-like object was being softly pinched in between her pointer finger and thumb. She focused on a particular spot and took a deep breath, and exhaled only half of that same air.

Ron stepped behind her looking scared, While Aunt Caryl and Cpt. Gordon both reached out to stop her. Kim drowned it out as noise as she focused. Time seemed to slow down. Her heartbeat thumping in her head rhythmically. In an instant, her right arm swung forward. Her torso twisting to the left and the bat-shaped object flew out of her hand, spiraling fast as in no time stuck its right wing into the wall. The room was silent for a few good moments before Kim's shoes broke said silence by stepping closer to the bat-shaped object. She forcefully yanked the object out of the wall, taking a brief moment to look at the 5-milimeter deep hole it left with just its wing tip.

"It's like a ninja star or something," she commented.

"Oh! I know how to throw those, simple." Kim knew where Ron was going with that statement. She recalled that he was invited to attend the Yamanouchi School, a secret academy for training people in ninjutsu back in Yamanouchi Japan. Ron was chosen, but on purpose thanks to him being blessed with Tai Shing Pek-Kwar or Monkey Kung Fu. Though Kim remembered that like all classes he ends up taking, barely passed. What Kim failed to notice in time was Ron had taken the bat-shaped ninja star and threw it himself.

The way he threw it was vastly different, using his right arm and curved it right by starting on his left side. His legs spread wide as his arm quickly swung out. The object flew along a complete curved path this time redirecting itself right back towards Ron, able to complete its curve close from impact to the same wall Kim had successfully thrown at. Ron's eyes grew wide and hollered his signature scream as he ducked at the last possible second. The object grazing his hair and cut a few follicles off it as well. The object impaled the wall as it flew past the remaining 4 adults. The emotions of shock and annoyance grew quickly on their faces. Bullock's massive fingers rubbed the bridge of his nose and frustration practically steamed from Gordon's face. Kim walked past the others and retrieved the object from its where it was stuck to the wall. She still had Wade on the other line of the Kimmunicator, and despite all the recent action he was able to see everything.

"So it's like a Ninja star but a boomerang, and it's shaped like a bat. A Batarang?" Ron sheepishly asked, his hand feeling his scalp for anything missing or bleeding.

"A Batarang. Really Ron?" Kim asked.

Aunt Caryl had noticed and stepped between a nervous Ron and an equally annoyed Kim. Caryl had put her hands on opposite ends of Kim and Ron's shoulders. Eyeing to Kim that what Ron had done was a bit foolish. Kim was used to it sadly.

"I think you two ought to get back to the hotel now." Aunt Caryl said.

"Agreed." Gordon finally said after a brief sigh. The last thing he wanted for was any of these 'kids' to get hurt with a very important piece of evidence. Before anything was said another officer had entered slowly. It was Officer Howard Branden.

Branden was the leader of the Gotham City Police Department S.W.A.T Division, now he was practically Gillian's right-hand man. Though no one calls him by his first name, as he prefers his last name be used instead. He always wore an Officer's cap with GCPD on its front facing forward. The hat barely revealed any of his brown short hair. The shadow casting over his face that seemed to reminisce the consequences of a constant sneer on his face. His eyes were an icy blue and his blue uniform was covered with S.W.A.T gear and many black pouches & pockets.

Gordon looked towards Branden with a bit of a sneer himself, as well as Aunt Caryl who stepped in front of both Kim and Ron. Both of them knew that Branden was in no way shape or form a good cop. He liked playing bad cop too much, and no matter what could have been said, there was no possibility of him getting fired or laid off by Commissioner Loeb. Rufus had emerged from his pouch right when Branden entered. Kim looked towards her Aunt with confusion. Though she was smart enough to hide the newly dubbed 'batarang' behind her back.

"Hey, Gordon,"

"Yes, Branden?"

"Loeb wants to see both you and Caryl in his office, pronto." Branden scanned the room noticing the two unidentified individuals that were lurking behind Caryl. His sneer became more evident.

"Who are the kids? They're not supposed to,"

"They're with me Branden, tell Loeb we'll be right there." Gordon immediately interjected. Branden then remained silent as he just shut the door behind him. Gordon looked towards Bullock and spoke something under his breath. Kim couldn't really hear what he said, what she could see was Bullock just nodding towards him. He walked behind Dr. Burton who had remained silent since his monologue on Graphene. He just simply kept attending the patient as he still was asleep. Ron was very fortunate that the bat like object didn't hit Johnny. If it did, it could spell trouble, something Kim couldn't get him out of. Bullock suddenly stood behind Kim and Ron. Aunt Caryl waited a bit till she silently whispered towards Kim.

"Bullock is going to watch over you two while Gordon and I go speak with Commissioner Loeb. Do not leave his side. With Branden back S.W.A.T might be acting up again." Kim just nodded as Aunt Caryl walked towards the door, with Gordon holding it open for her. As the two the room there was an awkward silence after Kim placed the batarang on a small table next to some medical equipment while Ron continued to feel his scalp one last time. Bullock was twirling his thumbs whistling for a few seconds before he spoke so the situation could be less awkward.

"So, Where ye from?"

Batman had successfully infiltrated Blackgate multiple times to the point he memorized where he was simply from crawling around in the ventilation shaft. He crawled carefully as to move as silently as possible throughout the complex. While he weighed nearly 200 lbs. with the suit on, he could still silently crawl about inside the ventilation shaft.

The mask over his face showed everything below and beyond the complex a few rooms forward thanks to a heads-up-display built in. Which allowed him to see people through walls and highlighted possible objects of use with an orange hue. It also kept track of everything that belonged to Ben, batarangs, tracking devices, etc. For every individual it kept track of it would also take note of their heart rate in beats per minute. This was originally programmed by Bruce when he wore the mantle of Batman prior to Ben.

Batman crept forward noticing two Officers below him. One other useful tool embedded in the mask was the ability to hear conversations from 500 feet away. Batman though was right above these two officers who continued their conversation and recorded on how pissed Commissioner Loeb was. Batman hated Loeb. He was the center of all police corruption, right next to Branden.

Batman had no time to waste and was on his way towards the interrogation room. Where a familiar man was being questioned by other officers. His name was Ricky 'Loose Lips' LeBlanc. A common criminal who was a gun dealer on the streets working with Crime lords, though no affilation with one was noted just yet. Ben put him behind bars on his first outing in the city as Batman, but thanks to corruption in the police force he's had a much lighter sentence than what he deserves. He is constantly traveling between GCPD building back in Gotham and here in BlackGate. Mainly to provide Branden's men with more, 'Manly' firearms. Military grade assault rifles, shotguns, and long-range snipers, specifically .50 calibers. Ricky never was one to cooperate with anyone trying to interrogate him. Unless you were on a rooftop, Batman had made 'Loose Lips' rather terrified of heights.

Batman then stumbled upon something he recognized. A batarang in the middle of a medical room. He growled to himself for making such a careless mistake to leave something as precious as that for the cops to find, but how did they get ahold of it? Looking more closely he also recognized the man on the stretcher, Johnny being aided by Dr. Burton. He didn't have any second thoughts as Dr. Burton had left the room, until he saw Kim and Ron with detective Bullock through the crack of the door opening.

"I've got to find to get my batarang back. What is she doing here anyway?" Batman decided not to ponder on it since she was related to Dr. Caryl O'Malley. He crawled slowly until he noticed a ventilation duct that was above the Batarang, but as well as Kim, Ron, & Bullock. He grabbed both sides of the ventilation duct and pulled softly applying more and more strength to the pull. Thankfully there was no noise yet, but made things much simpler.

He soon held opened the door, and softly said, "We should let Johnny be for a little while. You know, let him get some rest."

Bullock walked forward, Kim and Ron followed towards the door with Dr. Burton slowly closing it behind them. Batman then pulled harder at the duct as they walked further away. The screw holding it in place then snapped shortly as the door shut. Batman waited a few seconds before dropping down into the room. Using his cape to land silently as not wanting to startle a sleeping Johnny.

Without hesitation, his hand reached for the batarang and returned it to its utility pouch with the rest of his collection. His legs shot him back upward towards the shaft and he carefully placed the duct back as best as he could. Makking it look as if he was never there to begin with.

He then crawled back towards the interrogation room which would be further north, relatively close to the locker room for the men. He immediately held down his comlink earpiece next to his right ear. The button allowed for multiple visions and had a built-in comlink. Which was a quantum encrypted frequency linked back to the Batcave, where Alfred would always be waiting by the Batcomputer.

"Alfred, The GCPD managed to pick up a batarang I dropped back at a thug encounter the other evening. I need you to get started on another schematic just in case they were able to get its schematics."

"Hmm, yes that would be troublesome if those corrupt GCPD cops you keep talking about got ahold of that kind of intel, you did retrieve it did you?"

"Of course."

"Very good, any ideas for one of these new batarangs?"

"Surprise me. Alfred, I'm sorry for the way I talked towards you back at the Batcave."

"Thats quite alright Master Ben. Master Bruce and I are just looking out for you, 24 years of age is early to take on the mantle of the Batman. Bruce and I both know how taxing it was for him." Alfred replied with a softer tone.

"Thank you Alfred, but I believe I'm doing quite well so far." Batman replied.

Batman's fingers left his comlink and furthered his crawl. Taking a quick right he found himself in the lounge outside of the interrogation room. It was empty and the officer was inside of the room alone with Ricky.

"Perfect."

His right leg soon pushed against the duct that was blocking his path on the left side of the room. Pushing hard the duct broke off and landed on the ground.

He looked towards the room where only a small table and a chair, occupied by a cuffed Ricky LeBlanc, and another Officer were talking. Both were illuminated softly by a single lamp in the corner. As Batman crept closer his H.U.D was able to pick up their conversation, he ignored it, for the most part. Taking note of the bulletproof glass that stood between him and his target, no problem there. He reared right fist back until he heard a shift in the conversation topic, Batman could see the smug smile on Ricky's face.

"Aw, come on officer, how about we make ourselves a little, trade eh?" Ricky advertised.

"Like what? What could a low-life like you possibly offer me?" The officer asked. His arms was crossed and his gun by his side. Standing right in front of Ricky, completely taking up Ricky's attention. This was the perfect striking moment for Batman, but he waited. Like a tiger stalking its prey, he was waiting for the right moment to pounce. He just wanted to see how much information 'Loose Lips' would let out. Maybe Ricky was about to have a better day than previously planned.

"A big score and a chance to get out of Gotham, and some juicy stuff about your pal Loeb." Ricky was relaxed leaning back on his chair with his right leg perched onto his left knee, that same greedy grin on his face. The Officer looked at Ricky with a cocked eyebrow. A sale was pitched and now he was interested.

"A score? and juicy stuff on Loeb, Seriously? Branden would have my ass on that one. What makes you think I'd turn tail on them?" Ricky just chuckled to himself using body language to help further his advantage on the officer. Batman knew plenty on Loeb. Corrupt, Black Mask's errand boy, overweight, though more information was not unwelcomed.

"That's the thing. Loeb has run his course with Black Mask. I hear him and his new contact got big plans, plans with a lot of money involved, and the best part, and no more Gotham!"

New contact, money, and a scheme to get out of Gotham? Batman was getting the motherload of new information. If the drugs stashes he was after are still in play, that would mean that Black Mask was planning to make his final moves before he would possibly meet up with this new contact. Though no official word was given out on what would happen to the industrial steel mill Black Mask owned. Batman's nerves were on edge, sooner or later someone was going to walk into the lounge and his stealth would be compromised. He had to pounce, if not now, then very soon.

"What do you mean?" the Officer asked.

"Loeb is out, and Black Mask is taking care of any loose ends that need to be tied up so he can leave Gotham in less than a week I hear. Packing his shit and gettin' the hell out." Ricky animated himself to where he tossed his hand to the right with his thumb extended outward in the same direction smiling all the way. The officer was interested, near hook, line, and sinker.

Batman decided that no more information should be heard by the officer and punched the glass hard, shattered instantly; Batman's fist opened up and grabbed the officer by the collar and tie of his shirt quickly being yanked backwards. Both Ricky and the Officer took a second to panic. Ricky fell over off his chair onto his back. His eyes shut to avoid any glass shards while still cuffed by both his wrist and feet. The officer frightened and fidgeting was desperately reaching for his gun, but Batman's hand grabbed the back of his head and slammed it onto the table breaking in two upon impact. The unconscious officer fell with a busted nose that bled onto the cold floor.

Ricky finally opened his eyes to find the officer by his feet and the sound of the gun sliding to the far left corner of the room, the only thing in his way was a silhouette of a tall muscular man with pointed ears that went straight upward, with white soulless eyes. A silhouette Ricky had no problem remembering as fear consumed him. Ricky began to flail about, trying to distance himself from Batman screaming, but Batman's hand gripped his throat stopping his screaming with a 'gag' sound. He lifted Ricky off the cold floor and slammed him against the same wall he crawled towards. Batman clenched his left fist and smashed it into the wall, punching a hole straight through it dangerously close to Ricky's head. Time to get 'Loose Lips' talking.

"Oh God! Not you again! What do you want now!?" Ricky asked his voice was raspy from Batman slowly squeezing his throat. Ricky strugged and flailed as he was held up a good 6 inches from the ground.

"You just gave that Officer some intel on both Black Mask and Loeb. So talk!" Batman only ever yelled with his voice alternator when interrogating, because when it comes to fear, it worked rather well. Though to anyone hearing it constantly sounded like someone had a sore throat.

"N-no way, you've caused me enough trouble with some of my deals going south, you're the reason why I had to start bending over for Loeb!" Ricky glared down as he struggled more, but Batman had planned for him to resist.

"Then how about we take a trip outside to the rooftop then? It has a good view of Gotham Harbor." Batman watched as determination snapped into intense cowardace.

"Alright, alright you win! D-don't take me to the rooftop, please! B-Black Mask, he is tired of Gotham's bullshit, so he had a contact on the outside that can provide him business. He sold the last of his drug stashes last week and is preparing to leave. But he has to tie loose ends, get rid of anyone he personally talked to if they weren't on board. Loeb was his biggest concern, I-I hear most of them were onboard."

"That's useless to me, so start giving me something you haven't told anyone, or you won't be able to talk, ever again!" Batman's grip intensified. He watched as Ricky gagged and gasphed for air. His legs kicking about. His voice crackly and weak.

"L-Loeb wasn't pleased with Black Mask leaving. Was going to reveal a back-up plan to my boss and reveal what Black Mask really did, should the partnership go south! C-Cobblepot would do anything to get a full grip on Gotham! The Black Mask even set up caches of his drugs as diversions for Cobblepot's men!"

Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, AKA the Penguin. The Cobblepot's were a long time competitor and rival to the Wayne's for the longest time, before Ben or the Batman even got involved. Penguin was a sufficient crime boss that was laughably short and fat with a long pointy nose, just like a beak on a penguin. He was picked on as a kid for such a stature; needless to say he got the last laugh being one of the big 3 crime bosses in Gotham. But to anyone who wasn't the Batman, he was just a businessman. He was very good at hiding his tracks. Making it nearly impossible to pin any crimes against him. Even recently opened a new fancy reastauraunt.

The pieces now started to fall together with a bonus of learning who 'Loose Lips' primarily worked for. Black Mask has a plan to leave Gotham, and so far all of his other partners were on board, all except Loeb. He warned Roman Sionis that he would leak his back up plans to the Penguin and reveal all of the crime he was commited against to the public. Turning the tides over control of Gotham's underworld in his favor, and looking like an honest cop who busted the biggest crime boss at the same time.

Sionis probably has little power already now, so he and his gang had to be vulnerable in retrospect. So now Sionis has no choice but to remove the problem, but how? Roman could kidnap Loeb and torture him, it was a favorite shtick of his. Would he go as far as to kill his longtime partner? Either way, tonight's game plan has changed, and Batman had all the intel he needed.

"Good, now you can rest."

Batman's left arm smashed into Ricky's jaw, knocking him out cold. His motionless body fell next to the Officer's who was still unconscious. Batman soon softly opened the door to the lounge and climbed back up towards the ventilation shaft. Reaching Loeb though was going to be tricky. Aside from the doorway, there was only one way into his office and that was by a small air vent, which was a few floors up. Batman had then taken a left upon entering the same tunnels of the shaft he had taken prior, finding the elevator. He waited as it was passing upwards carrying who knew what.

Batman waited for it to come down again and jumped on top of it. Where it slowly came to a stop on the floor he was just on. He remained still not wanting to move, or breathe. The same move he made against the deer he took down all those years ago.

He felt the elevator doors move beneath him, opening and closing until it slowly went up towards the floors he was going towards. It was convenient yes, but it could spell trouble; His mind was not ignoring the possibility of it being Black Mask on that elevator. He had broken onto this floor once before. The duct to the shaft he crawled towards was already broken off and lying against the left side of the ventilation wall. He crawled past it and took a left turn, straight towards Loeb's office. He stopped as the vent opened up slightly. Perfect for getting breezes down the hallway right of Loeb's office and for peeking through. He waited for anyone to take a left towards the Office.

That's when Caryl and Gordon stepped into view. He continued with them, both of them were talking about their Thanksgiving dinners and whatever Loeb wanted to talk to them about. As a corrupt commissioner, Loeb was the perfect tool to have in the pockets of a crime boss. But if Loeb was good for anything, it was that he kept everything documented in a private room on a computer behind his office. If there was any more information on this outside contact of Black Mask's it was there.

He kept pace with Gordon and Caryl seeing if they knew anything. He eliminated any further distractions by turning off his H.U.D. Caryl and Gordon silently entered Loeb's office, Gordon shutting the door as he watched Loeb flicking the toothpick he had in his mouth onto the ground. Caryl couldn't help herself as she scowled, she had every right to.

Gillian Loeb was a large round stocky man with a nearly complete receding black hairline. The only strings of hair on top of his balding head were covered by his massive commissioner cap. Loeb may appear stocky in appearance thanks to his rather deceiving uniform, but he was nowhere near fit. His face showed signs of aging wrinkles and fat. His blue jacket decorated with a small American flag pin and his Officers badge hides his black tie and white shirt. His voice was stern, as Loeb was not the type of man to be subtle. He wanted people's full attention when he spoke, though one thing was set in stone, he was a jackass.

"About time you two showed up! What the hell were you two doing?!" Loeb shouted.

"Cut the crap Loeb, what do you want?" Caryl already held back much anger for taking her away from her family on the one night she requested to have off. Loeb practically made her a slave to Blackgate. She would joke that she would live much easier if she kept a cot in her office and slept there. Loeb's teeth gritted against Caryl.

"Yes, Commissioner?" Gordon asked.

"You two have been a pain in my ass and I should seriously fire you both for not doing what I pay you for!"

"Excuse me, I do my job you fat son of a-"

"Easy Caryl." Gordon stopped Caryl by placing his hand on her shoulder, instantly being brushed off by Caryl in aggravation.

"Watch your tone Caryl, 3 years bending over for me to get where you are can easily come tumbling down you know." Caryl's eyes shot out enraged. Gordon stepping in front of her as she attempted to move in bearing tooth and claw. Gordon stared into the smug face that Gillian wore.

"Gillian cut the crap and get to the point."

"You two are slacking off and I won't have it any longer! Gordon you've haven't gotten crap against this bat-guy, you just going to let him walk around and beat the daylights out of my men?! Get out there and deal with him already!"

"Commissioner, we just recovered something that might give us some clues, as for the public is concerned there is no such thing as the Batman." Gordon fired back. Gillian's eyes perked up and he just nodded in response. His eyes closing and leaning back in his chair until his mouth opened.

"Caryl, did you take a look at the victim yet?"

"Yes commissioner, it's Johnny Caprice again. After what happened tonight he claims to want to come clean after a brutal beating from the Batman."

"No! I won't hear any more of this Batman crap! And Caprice again? Wasn't he just accused of assault not too long ago, I thought you cleared him to go back out there! More and more of your same patients come crawling back here telling tall tales of the freak! Fix it, now get out!" Gillian just rotated his chair around and reached for his drawer. He reached for his cigarette and lighter attempting to light it. Caryl bore her claws one more time before Gordon pulled her aside shaking his head.

"Forget it Caryl, Let's get back downstairs." Caryl snarled as she stormed out in front of Gordon. Gordon told her to go downstairs as he stood and inside of Loeb's office, his teeth glaring.

"For God's sake, Gillian treat people with respect." He slowly shut the door as he pursued Caryl back towards the elevator. Batman had stayed in the vent observing the whole conversation through his H.U.D. He sighed as he walked closer towards the severer room that Loeb had, it wasn't far away from his office and not in the schematic he downloaded on his first voyage to Blackgate.

Batman moved forward he did feel some sympathy for Caryl as she shared the philanthropist views that Bruce did. To see her get chewed up by the things Ben did during the evening felt wrong, in fact, it was wrong. Batman brushed those thoughts aside.

Batman had finally entered this small room with nothing more than a blue light hanging over a small desk and a laptop. This room was once a separate interrogation room, however since most small time interrogations occurred back at the GCPD headquarters back in Gotham City, this room was used for Gillian's own private use. He opened a pocket in his utility belt pulling out a small gun-metal-gray USB drive and slid it inside the USB port on Loeb's laptop. With a simple push of a button, the USB started to download restricted data and information from the laptop, without having to log into the laptop.

The USB was actually vertical with the direction of the laptop keyboard rather than horizontal like traditional USB drives. This provided a small amount of protection with its design so it wouldn't snap off from quickly pulling out of the computer it is linked with. Batman checked over his shoulder to see if anyone was currently on their way towards the room. Luckily it was him and the laptop and all of Loeb's dirty little secrets.


	6. The Red Vigilante

Loeb still was having trouble lighting his cigarette and began to boil over, seemingly low on fluid. It wasn't until there was a knock on the door that his aggravated emotions were checked, and he focused on his new visitor. Branden slowly walked in and shut the door behind him and stood just a few feet away from Loeb's desk.

While Loeb and Branden were both corrupt, they could talk and trust one another in the field and Loeb allowed for some of his more questionable acts to go unnoticed. Branden simply chuckled as he pulled a lighter from his back pocket and tossed it to Loeb. The lighter hit his desk with a small 'clunk' and was quickly snatched up. The tiny flame finally heating the end of his cigarette and Loeb quickly inhaled the first puff.

"Jesus, what the hell you gotta do to get a functioning lighter these damn days?"

"The only good ones nowadays are those Zippo lighters. What was that screaming and hollering all about?" Branden asked. He took out his phone and looked at the screen his eyes glancing back at its white & blue tinted glow, and would quickly revert his attention back to Loeb.

"Gordon and O'Malley. Those two are not doing their damn job! And Gordon, he's so clean that it's revolting. Need to have some of your men go down there and beat some sense into him."

"Oh come on, Gordon is a good cop. In hindsight think of it as a publicity balancing act for us to keep doing the things we love, and he can help regain some trust with the public. Without having any kind of investigation."

"You mean like you cheating on your wife with those 23-year-old whores back at the bars?" Loeb fired back snickering to himself while puffing out two more smoke clouds with his cigarette.

"Hey, if you dealt with a saggy bitch of a wife like mine every time I went home, and you had a pair of C-cup tits flash you, you would do the same." Branden just rolled his eyes and checked his phone again as it buzzed in his back pocket. This time he just scowled through it and didn't even give a second look towards Loeb's large direction. Both men were annoyed with one another but their mutual respects were at the same level.

Loeb finally glared him in the eye and leaned forward, giving Branden the tell-tale sign that he wants his undivided attention. Branden only listened half of the time seeing as some of Loeb's tasks were out of sheer anger and corrupt revenge, and frankly wasted Branden's time.

"Look I need you to find anything on those two. Gordon is too clean for the payroll, I swear he lords his integrity over the rest of us and enjoys it. While you're at it, find out if there is any kind of juicy secrets between Gordon and O'Malley. Gordon is a man of principles but easily suffers from Lancelot Syndrome, it's when you can't but help out pretty women outta' a jam. Let's be honest here, O'Malley is an F.O.S." Loeb replied with a sly smile on his face that could be plastered on a dealing scumbag and there wouldn't be any differences.

"Uh, A what sir?" Branden asked.

"Fuck-on-sight. She's Curvy, well-endowed, and most importantly single. Not a day goes by when one of the other cops gives her a whistle and checks her out. Those two have got to have something going on between em', and I want you to find it." Loeb practically smiled and spun his chair, with dirty fantasies roaming his head. Branden just scowled and it suddenly turned into a smile as Loeb was facing away. His smile faded as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away.

"Actually Loeb, I was thinking, Gotham just isn't right for me anymore. I was going to request I transfer out somewhere. Leave the devil woman behind with the kids and live the life I deserve, let's be honest everyone in Gotham is upset with their lives. Even some of the high-class citizens want I out of this city, and I want out too." Loeb just looked Branden dead in the eye with his anger seeping from his wrinkled face. Branden just stared down back at him as Loeb stood from his chair. His cigarette removed from his lips and with his other hand pointed his index finger. His teeth gritting as each low tone enraged word came out.

"I don't know what you think you're up to, but you better put a stop to it here

Branden. You're not going anywhere! The only kind of break you will be getting is from the sluts that keep banging you when you're out of the job! Now there is no more talk of this crap understand! Get to the task I asked you to do already dammit!"

"Now, now Gillian… there is no reason to threaten your best officer is there?" Gillian's eyes shot out wide and he quickly turned around. The door to his office closet was slightly open and nearby was a man standing roughly 6' 1". His white suit with micro gray stitching smoothly followed the shape of his sports jacket and pants. His silver tie stood out from his white vest that matched perfectly with the jacket and pants. His black shoes clip-clopped slowly as he walked right towards Loeb's right perspective. His black gloves adjusting his tie as his hands dropped to his sides.

However, nothing compared to what was covering his face. A full headed mask carved and shaped like a closed skull with the teeth a metallic silver. The only color on this mask was the piercing blue eyes that stared right at Gillian's own brown eyes. Theoretically speaking, the Black Mask had entered stage left. For the first time in a while, Gillian was terrified.

"S-Sionis? What are you doing in here?!" Underneath the teeth of the mask, Roman smiled.

"Think of it as my 'Au Revoir Mon Ami' to you specifically Gillian, and Branden is right on both accounts. Gordon brings a good reputation for the P.D. and Gotham is getting sullied to where nobody is winning. It's time to get out while the fruits of the world out there are ripe for the picking," Black Mask walked left to right, almost like a pendulum. His hands also were animated along with his words. Branden just stepped back and towards the side close to a small shelf on the left corner of the office near the door.

Loeb just tried to stay in control of himself and watched Black Mask walk around the back of his office. Branden looked out the office window that was always closed by the blinds, with no one in sight. Black Mask just watched his feet step towards each corner of the room, left, right, left, right. His eye perched and looked at Gillian again.

"But that ain't the only reason why I'm here. Oh no, no, no, the reason why I'm here?" His finger waved towards Gillian who was completely focused on it, too focused in fact to notice that Black Mask had broken his walking pattern and shoved Loeb back into his office chair. Branden pulled his pistol out and pointed it directly at Black Mask, who hardly blinked at the barrel of the Smith & Wesson M&P 9.

Black Mask put his face personally close to Loeb's who was quivering almost with fear and confusion. Black Masks' own personal Browning M1911 was pulled from the waistband of his left side and aimed directly under the fat of Loeb's chin. The cold steel pushed itself against Loeb before Black Mask spoke again.

"Is to remind a certain fat fuck, where his place is."

Batman's USB started blinking its signature blue light. The information that Loeb had been keeping secret was now his. He inserted it into his arm pad and quickly pressed keys to access the information remotely on that pad. He swiped through files that the GCPD had of criminals, employee personal information, data charts, all seemed normal except for a small file on the left corner under the name 'private'.

"Idiot..." Batman whispered to himself.

Batman's finger instantly tapped the screen and pulled it up. It contained information about all the 3 crime bosses. Carmine Falcone, The Penguin & Black Mask, however, nothing was new. He checked the dates of when they were last opened and found a folder on activity that was accessed just two nights ago. Batman pressed it and scanned through the documents searching for anything new. His eyes continued to browse until it opened the most recently created file. It read a statement in Loeb's words, the majority of it all old information, except that last line which read…

-Black Mask has been recently discussing with his most trusted compatriots about some insane plan to book it out of Gotham. Why? I don't know, but with city hall about to be no longer in my pocket, Roman can't pull a stunt like this. It would cause everything that I've worked so hard for to come crashing down! My plan to Blackmail him could go under any time. Also, he has some sort of taste for Caryl O'Malley. Thanks to her clearing some of his best men. Who is this 'Lipsky' guy that Roman spoke to recently, haven't heard about him and why is he so much more important than the rest of us? If he goes through with it I will have to talk to Loose Lips about getting in touch with The Penguin-

"Lipsky, What could that mean?" Batman closed the file and immediately went to his comlink to contact Alfred back at the Batcave while turning Loeb's computer off as if Batman was never there.

"Alfred I have what I need. Black Mask has a plan to leave Gotham and he doesn't want anyone following his trail. These recent drug stashes were a ruse to keep everyone off of him and to get rid of everything he owns, but I have a lead. Look up the word 'Lipsky' and see if you can find anything."

"On it sir." Alfred instantly replied.

There was a small pause and some humming from Alfred as Batman stood and waited by Loeb's laptop. He himself was diving deep into his memory to see if 'Lipsky' was code for something and just missed its meaning. No, it couldn't be that.

"Hmm let's see there is a Jeff Lipsky a famous California photographer, not very likely. Nor would David Lipsky who is a famous author, have anything to do with the Gotham crime lord. Hmm, that's odd."

"What is Alfred?"

"There are two more Lipsky names but there is very little information. What I can say is that both have been arrested on multiple occasions, while one remains behind bars in a South Dakota penitentiary, it seems that the other has managed to escape nearly everytime."

"So there are no similarities besides criminal records and last names? There's got to be something." Batman stayed.

"Hmm, what do we have here?" Alfred stated to himself. Batman practically held his breath.

"It appears that there is one single factoid that intertwines them both. Conveniently, both have been apprehended and foiled by the world-famous teen hero,"

"Kim Possible..." Batman answered.

Batman looked up slightly thinking to himself. Alfred sometimes had glorious moments of his own where clues of a mystery would be completely laid out bare by himself. Had it not been for him, some crimes would have gone unsolved.

The fact remained though that most of Black Masks' allies had connections when it came to money and strategic crime power. But one thing was certain, immense knowledge of computers and technological prowess was not a popular feature in the entire Gotham underworld. Whoever this Lipsky person was incredibly important to Black Mask, and Batman had to find him, fast.

"Looks like I'm going visit Kim, who is conveniently inside the building."

"Considering your *ahem* reputation sir, I would suggest a different approach than just walking into the room at Blackgate. Maybe you should come back to the cave and see if you can research more about Kim Possible. You can also test out your new equipment while you're at it."

Kim waited with Bullock and Ron at the face of the elevator for Gordon and Aunt Caryl. Kim just kept tapping her fingers on her arms that were crossed over her chest. Ron continued to play a game on the Kimmunicator with Bullock still chewing on a toothpick he pulled out from his pocket, and would sometimes glance over Ron's shoulder watching him play. The constant beeping of the Kimmunicator barely annoyed Kim. She was too busy trying to think everything through.

The Batarang was comprised of some expensive materials so only some of the high-class citizens she would know could be this 'Batman'. The seniors couldn't pull it off because both had to be in peak physical condition. Junior is too much of a buffoon to get this kind of stealth and combat down, though there was that time when Shego was his mentor. There was no way he could have learned that much to be someone of Batman's supposed caliber.

A small ding interrupting her thinking and the elevator doors began to open up. Kim watched as Caryl just continued to massage her nasal bridge and stormed out of the elevator. Gordon slowly walked out, his jacket close to the closing elevator doors. Kim knew something was wrong from the very start.

"I just want to rip that fat head off of his flabby shoulders!" Caryl screamed, with steam practically blowing out of her ears.

"Forget about it Caryl, soon Loeb will be out of our hair with the recent political changes about to happen," Gordon replied.

"Political changes? Kim asked.

"Yeah, Loeb has the majority of City Hall in his pocket. However, Harvey Dent has grown really popular among the city, If he wins this upcoming election as district attorney he will be able to easily snatch up crooks left and right, the guy is only 34 too. That's something Loeb can't have." Bullock exclaimed.

Kim took her Kimmunicator back from Ron, who had just finished his game, and pulled up a web browser typing in Harvey Dent. She read that Harvey was considered one of Gotham's brightest individuals and was also thought to be untouchable. Bringing in some of Carmine Falcone's right-hand men, which also explains why in the Gotham underworld he is third in power behind Black Mask and someone else called the Penguin.

"The Penguin who is that?" Ron asked quietly,

Rufus had crawled up his shoulder and read the article as well. Kim sometimes struggled to see who would do better intellectually between the two. For a naked mole rat, Rufus was pretty smart. Kim just held her finger to the article and a few other options appeared with the one she tapped reading 'Save'.

"Don't know, I will see if Wade can pick up anything on him, as well as our Batman."

The cold barrel of the Browning M1911 rubbed against the thick neck of Loeb as he started to sweat bullets nervously. He glared at Branden who still pointed his Smith & Wesson towards Black Mask. The crime lord chuckled as the gun slowly left Loeb's personal space and observed the commissioner breathe heavily holding his neck with his thick hands. He growled towards Black Mask, finally standing up and attempting to hold the floor in this conversation. Branden kept his iron sight at the chest of Black Mask who only stood in front of Loeb letting the man rant on.

"Sionis what is the meaning of this? Haven't I always come through for you in a pinch?" His arms were waving wildly and pointed straight at Sionis as if he were accusing him of a crime personally afflicted towards him.

"You may have Gillian, but you've also crossed the line. Things have changed dramatically." The M1911 soon pointed at Loeb's head which immediately looked towards Branden with both fear and anger in his expression. Expecting full on for Braden to shoot Black Mask, but he didn't. Theoretically speaking Black Mask is in charge of both of them.

Black Mask only glared at Branden for a few seconds, his blue eyes seemed to pierce his soul. Something Black Mask cherished when it came to the reaction of his victims. Just as expected Loeb clasped his hands together and was prepared to beg for mercy. Instead, he couldn't get the words out, but Black Mask withdrew his handgun placing it back against his holster around his waist.

"Listen, Gillian, I can overlook this little mishap just this one time. No need to have your guard dog all angry. We're pals, we can work this out right?" The crime lord said with charisma in his voice.

Black Mask squinted at Branden, with no reaction to greet Black Mask in return. Behind him were three doors at the back of Loeb's office. His closet to the left, the private room which only he had the key to open up towards in the center, and a secret getaway hallway towards the helipad outside to his right.

Black Mask walked towards the door to his right. His black gloves quickly fixing his tie once again and pulling his sports jacket back into place. He looked towards Loeb one last time. He opened the door and looked towards both men.

"Now come on, I ain't got time to waste. My ride outta this shit show of a town leaves in 3 days. Meet me topside." He slowly closed the door and simply walked across the hallway. He took a look at his watch and he started to speed up into a slow run.

Loeb just looked back at Branden who just looked at Loeb confused. Branden took the time to put away his pistol and pulled out his phone one last time as he felt it vibrate in his pocket. He sighed as he pulled up a text messaging application, then pulled up Gordon's name.

Gordon's phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. He took it out opening it and looked as Branden's name came up. Gordon just scowled as mostly Branden would just leave abruptly and Gordon would be in charge of his monkey-like officers. Gordon knew that Branden would leave early to go out drinking and catch a stripper by the downtown clubs. He was surprised to read the message this time though.

- _Hey Gordon, I gotta split. My kids puking up a storm back home and my wife's freaking out on me, gotta shut her up. I will be taking the next ride out of here._ -

Gordon for the first time looked at his phone with Branden at the contact and had a small smile. Guess Branden really can be a good guy when his kids were involved. Gordon just rejoined the group and noticed Kim looking towards him.

"Is something wrong Captain Gordon?" she asked.

"Looks like Branden has got to leave to take care of his sick kid."

"Must be something he ate." Ron jumped in.

"Doesn't really make any sense, Branden isn't like this at all. Maybe I misjudged him." Gordon began to rub his chin. Branden was in no way a family man, So why would he leave now to take care of his kid? Even if he were telling the truth, he couldn't just up and leave. Not even Gordon himself could do that, though it was for his sick son.

Branden put the phone in his pocket and watched as Loeb leaned forward towards the three doors and wiped his forehead with his forearm. Reaching for his cigarettes again and his old lighter Loeb needed to smoke out the stress and calm him down. Black Mask practically made him die of fright. Sure they were accomplices but Black Mask had way more power. Loeb understood that power for the first time again.

He again was having trouble lighting his cigarette. Loeb grunted in anger as the lighter refused to work, turning slightly towards his right. The spark was there but the flame was not.

However, another kind of flame was about to be lit.

"Hey Branden toss me that lighter again would ya? Mine doesn't seem to work any-".

Suddenly, Loeb was cut off by a loud bang. He froze, the cigarette and the faulty lighter fell to the ground first, then blood. Droplets fell from a long red stream from above his officer's cap that divided into two streams by his pale nasal bridge. A clean bullet hole was all that was anew on Loeb's head. Right at the center of the cranium as parts of his brain started to slip out.

Smoke was seeping from the barrel of a Smith & Wesson M&P 9, with Branden's left hand holding the gun. All that was left was a little smirk he wore. Loeb's body was taken by gravity, it falling head first as it hit against the corner of his desk and into the ground, causing a bit of gray matter to land on Branden's shoe. In disgust he shook it off and sprinted for the same door Black Mask went through. He slammed the door shut and sprinted down the hallway.

Branden soon ran out to a helipad that had a view of the lights of Gotham Harbor. A storm began to brew again over the city as a UH-60 Blacked out Black Hawk helicopter was ready for takeoff. The wind the propellers caused blew Branden's hat off of his blonde hair. He didn't bother to retrieve it as he ran straight for the chopper's open door. He hopped inside the cabin with leather seating, sitting in front of Black Mask who looked at him in the eye.

Branden buckled himself up after turning off all the technology he had on him. He also noticed a few other thugs who were fully decked out some he recognized as his own men, others he hardly knew. But everyone in that chopper was under Black Masks thumb. Branden could barely hear the Gotham Crime lord over the gyrating blades above both of them.

"Is it done?" Black Mask yelled.

"Loeb is out of the picture permanently!" Branden yelled back over the helicopter blades, accepting one of the pair of headphones from one of his men. Black Mask gave the pilot thumbs up. The pilot simply nodded back and began to lift the helicopter from the pad and slowly turned towards Gotham cities industrial district. Branden had given one last scowl towards Blackgate, if all went well that would be the last time he would ever be there, or ever see his wife and kids ever again.

"So, when do the guys and I get paid? We've done everything you've asked!" Branden yelled into his microphone on his headset. Most of the men associated with him looked at Black Mask awaiting his answer.

"You'll all get your pay, but we gotta do one more thing first. Get out of Gotham. Before that, there is one more thing I gotta do, and that's phone a new friend of mine! He will be able to make us vanish from the face of the earth. No more Gotham, new lives, a fresh start, big pocketbooks, and most importantly NO MORE BATMAN!"

Black Mask looked out to the harbor of the once city he had control over. It's rotten sewers, annoying officers, competition, but most importantly the Batman was now no longer a concern. The helicopter soon flew off into the stormy distance.

The bang of the gunshot was heard all around the complex. The sound echoed both one floor up, and one floor down from the original source. Batman's head turned sharply as the shot ran through the vents and into the private room. His eyes went wide he knew that meant trouble. The shot could have been a misfire, but there was no firing range in Blackgate or any security equipment on the floor he was on. In fact, there shouldn't be any firearms close to the offices, and If there was a gun on this floor, it wasn't by accident.

Batman had everything he needed, he could escape without any kind of fuss, but whatever that gunshot was, he had to find out. Batman kicked the first door down and sprinted towards the next jumping up bending his right leg inward with his left leg leading out. The boot kicked through the locks of the second door, causing the door to swing so violently that one set of hinges broke off. Batman landed on his left knee with his right leg stabilizing him. His right hand stabilized his torso and his left arm was extended outward, prepared to engage anyone that could interfere. His eyes opened and scanned the room; no one was there, no one living that is.

The shot echoed above the ventilation shaft near Gordon and Kim. Bullock, Gordon, and Caryl's eyes shot out wide as the sound hit their eardrums.

"That was a gunshot!" Bullock screamed.

"G-Gunshot, Here? That's not possible!" Caryl argued. Kim and Ron both shared the shocked expression as well as Rufus who looked around sniffing about. Smelling the scent of smoke & freshly spilled blood. He hopped off of Ron's shoulders and went for the stairs. Ron looked towards Rufus who scattered away.

"Rufus! Where are you going?" Ron yelled.

Rufus chirped about towards the stairs. Kim's shocked expression turned into a compliant stare as she immediately ran towards Rufus. She waved the rest of the group on as Ron soon followed, then Gordon and Caryl simultaneously, with Bullock behind. Kim followed Rufus as he hopped up the stairs, Gordon leaped in front of Kim as Rufus had come to a stop scratching at a door. Caryl watched and noticed something as Gordon used his weight to bust the door down, This was the same floor they just got back from. The only gun on this floor would be Loeb's personal revolver in his office.

"Damn it, I'm too late." Batman looked at the now pool of blood that came from Loeb's head atop his carcass. He stepped over the body and the blood not wanting to contaminate anything in the crime scene. He instantly pressed his H.U.D and held it there. Once the button is held, it instantly scanned the room for anything he could see, slowly walking around to get everything in the room caught by the scan. It then saved and the scan ceased.

Batman noticed a few things first. A clean headshot was obvious, with Loeb's brain matter was scattered everywhere. He looked around, trying to play back the possible scenario. Dark blue holographic images of what represented both Loeb and the shooter were depicted in Batman's H.U.D, visualizing an attempt to replay the crime scene.

"Commissioner Loeb, he did have his fair share of enemies. None that could get into Blackgate and easily kill him though."

Batman noticed something on the floor, a shoe print facing towards the back right door, and it had one last print before it faded out at the entrance of the door. The only problem was that a small section of the shoe was imprinted by Loeb's blood. Batman wasn't too worried he's scanned hundreds of shoe prints before, so there had to have been a match in the database back at the Batcave.

He then started to look around for something else that could give clues. Blood was on the left side of the desk, and Loeb's body was positioned with his chest facing the ceiling and his head closest to the office entrance. Further scanning of his corpse revealed that his skull had a fracture in the right side.

"Loeb had no idea a gun was pulled on him, so he was facing away from the gunman."

Batman had the unique knowledge to put together a crime scene with only the bare minimum. All he needed now was the one thing a murder by firearm always had, the bullet. It had to have been here somewhere. He looked around and found something by Loeb's bookshelf on the left wall. It was a shell casing, the perfect thing Batman needed. However, it was covered in blood, and he couldn't find any trace of a fingerprint, but he did find the caliber. Batman rolled the casing around in his hand playing with it in his fingers.

"9 millimeters. That rules out Sionis, his favorite killing pistol is his Browning M1911, that's a .45 caliber. There would also be a much bigger mess, plus the shoe print would be much more obvious. Sionis is also super paranoid, taking caution in every way, probably is what kept him as a crime lord all this time."

Batman kept thinking, now mentally adding in the info that Loeb's personal Laptop provided. The best scenario for Black Mask was that Loeb would be removed from the story altogether. But he had help, wanting nothing to do with the actual murder. It wouldn't be this Lipsky person because Sionis would see that as being too risky, he or she is way too important to him right now to be caught. It could be one of the Black Masks' personal assassins for hire, but assassins like to stealthy. Make the kill and get out as quickly and as cleanly as possible.

He then saw something with the casing that caught his eye. The casing itself was a silver color, instead of a signature copper. Batman looked closer and saw that the bullet was a brand called NovX. Powerful unique shaped bullets that sported a stainless steel casing.

"NovX? That's the brand that the GCPD use and they just got them in 2 weeks ago. This was an inside job."

Batman placed the bullet down on the desk and looked towards Loeb's body. His mind went ablaze with scenarios and possible culprits. He stood in front of the desk facing the 3 back doors. Another corrupt cop down, but not in the way of Justice. Murder is murder. However, with the shoe and the bullet he should have enough information to narrow out the suspects to a reasonable small amount.

A NovX 9mm bullet was perfect for suspecting a fellow officer as the killer. There are only a handful of pistols officer's uses as 9 millimeters used by Gotham GCPD. The STI Lawman, CZ P-09, and the Smith and Wesson M&P 9. Every officer has their handguns registered should they get lost or stolen. A registry that was copied to the database back at the Batcave. With the pistol identified and the shoe size reconstructed and re-proportioned to the accurate body size, Batman could root out some possibilities.

Batman was suddenly pulled back into reality as the door swung open. He swiftly turned around, his eyes slightly opened then narrowed with anger. Gordon had busted down the door and Caryl was behind him who both fell to the ground. Batman prepped for anything now. His left leg moved behind his right, and his torso arched forward slightly. Making sure his chest armor was facing his unexpected guests. Followed shortly behind were Kim and Ron who both looked toward Batman in shock. Batman's fists clenched as he whispered "Shit" to himself.

Kim and Ron gasped, Rufus had screamed and retreated to Ron's tux pocket and Bullock nearly crashed into both of them. His scowl replaced with horror as he saw Loeb's lifeless body. Caryl had screamed and closed her eyes and Gordon drew his pistol. A Beretta Model 92's cold steel barrel now pointed towards Batman's chest. Ron could barely hold back chunks at the smell and sight.

Kim couldn't believe her eyes. Loeb's body laid lifeless, with a scenario being painted of what could have happened in her mind. Here stood the culmination of Gothams mythos, the man who was never seen without being knocked to a pulp and unconscious. The Legendary Vigilante himself, The Batman, now responsible for the death of Commissioner Gillian Loeb.

"Batman, you're under arrest for the murder of Gillian Loeb!" Gordon cried out.

"Gordon, get out of my way." Batman scorned.


	7. Let actions speak for us

There couldn't have been a more tense moment. Kim could smell the blood and gray matter that was Loeb's brain splattered across the floor. She had to keep focus because at any moment this situation could go past the breaking point. There was only one clear threat, The Batman, who stood only 5 feet from the group.

Kim stood ready for the absolute worst. She saw the aftermath of what Batman was capable of, from broken bones and dark bruises to blood dripping down from anywhere from the face. Each being a clear sign that the Batman was someone that didn't show mercy to his victims. She mentally sized him up, estimating him to have been at least 6 feet tall, and heavily armored.

Ron couldn't help but fight to keep his lunch inside, his index finger held his mouth shut while his cheeks inflated while holding his stomach with his opposing hand. Rufus had retreated to Ron's pocket after screaming at the scene, terrified of the Batman. Aunt Caryl had almost gone into shock, her eyes widened to their max fighting tears while had her mouth was covered by both of her hands. Bullock was paying attention to Captain Gordon who had his pistol drawn and aimed towards Batman's torso.

Batman remained steady, his body tense yet completely calm. Any sudden movements and Gordon would surely open fire. This was a group he didn't want to engage in a violent manner. Gordon was a good cop and so was Bullock, Gotham needed them amongst the filth that was the rest of the GCPD. Caryl O'Malley was a renowned psychologist, Gotham would be lost in several ways without her. The unknown elements were Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. Ron was… Ron. Childish, intellectually lacking, just a small hurdle to just casually jump over, but Kim was the real issue.

There was no deep research done on what she was capable of. He knew she saved the world from time to time, and with that, he started filling in the blanks mentally, especially with skill sets. Her combat could be anything from a rookie with sloppy form, to a highly trained specialist, along with how she fought from conservative with her stamina to wild and free.

Batman clenched his fists, his feet ready to launch himself right off the ground.

"Seems you brought company with you Gordon." The Batman stated.

"Why'd you do it, Batman? Yes, Loeb was a prick, but he didn't deserve to die! If you really want to help this city, then leave it to us." Gordon fired back. His pistol still aiming right at Batman's chest. Batman remained in a state of solid stone. Silent and without emotion.

"The only 'good' cops in all of the GCPD are standing in this room Gordon, and I have done much more to save this city than any of your officers have. I also don't carry guns, the murderer used 9 millimeters."

"Why should I believe a thing you're saying." Gordon fired back.

"Because I'm on your side."

"So you are real," Kim said showing the disgust on her face. She didn't want to admit it, but the Batman was definitely intimidating. His stance was flawless, prepared to swiftly defend any part of himself. Their eyes glared at each-others, both of them were prepared for either one to make a move. Kim had raised her hands with opened palms ready to greet Batman's closed fists. However, she considered herself at a disadvantage since she was only carrying her Kimmunicator on her side while Batman could be carrying anything.

"The world-famous teen hero, Kim Possible. You're a long way from Middleton." Batman relaxed his posture, his back straightened with his arms and legs resting on his sides. A golden belt could be seen on his waist as his cape just rested off his shoulders and covered his arms and nearly all of his body. The belt did tell Kim that Batman was packing some kind of equipment. Now she was on her guard just a bit more than prior. Kim's eyes then widened, Batman knew where she was from.

"How do you know where I'm from?!"

"Everyone knows who you are Miss Possible. A grave error in judgment." Batman growled under his breath. The shot was heard from multiple floors, he didn't know just how many but he assumed the worst. The pounding of armed officers boots filled his imagination racing upstairs. A group of five was more easy to deal with than a group of 20 or possibly more armed officers. Some could already be on the floor they occupied now, and that was something Batman couldn't afford to risk.

"Now I'll say this one more time, Gordon put the gun down," Batman asked.

"Batman this is your last warning." Gordon barked.

Batman growled while glaring down the barrel of the pistol. He then just closed his eyes, his left hand rubbing his temple with a neglectful sigh, and slowly began to raise his arms. Kim looked puzzled and so did Ron after mustering enough strength to fight back his lunch. Kim started to stand normally again with Ron right behind her. Gordon was silent, raising a brow but keeping the gun pointed towards the masked man. Bullock and Caryl were equally puzzled as well. Kim just looked at Batman with an odd expression. So far all that she heard of the Batman was a brutal, fighting machine that never reserved to killing his victims. All of the victims of his actions were going to live to see another day and make a recovery. Loeb had a gun pointed to him and shot in the head, it didn't fit Batman's M.O. at all.

Kim felt uneasy, watching his arms rise slowly into the air. The sharpened blades on his forearms were at a low angle but the sight was still intimidating. In fact, his entire outfit was meant to scare the daylights out of any bad guy who came into contact with him. He was obviously well equipped too, that belt on his waist surely carried something that Wade would want to look into. His closed fists soon reached the appropriate height to appear less threatening. 'Wait, closed fists?' Kim thought. But her mind was just a bit too slow, It happened all so fast.

Batman opened his palms and twin tiny black spheres descended to the floor. Smoke suddenly exploded into the room as the orbs landed on the ground. No one could breathe, but everyone could hear the 4 gunshots Gordon let loose. Bang-Bang, Bang, Bang! Batman had already had detective vision activated. Everyone was replaced with the highlighted neon blue silhouettes of themselves. Batman jumped to the left, somersaulting over the two first bullets that flew under his cape. Jumping forward he was lucky that time was on his side, narrowly dodging the third bullet by using the same kinetic energy from the somersault. His left foot landed hard on the floor & by just slightly squatting to the left he jumped over the final bullet. His hands landing right on Kim's shoulders, using her as a counterbalance.

Kim amongst the smoke and struggle to breathe, felt someone's fingers wrap around both of her shoulders. 210 pounds of extra weight suddenly descended onto her torso. If it were not for cheer practice and the pyramid's they always did, Kim's shoulders and knees would have collapsed. Ron was the first to escape the smoke, coughing and waving the fumes away from his mouth and nose. He opened his eyes and was about to call out to Kim, only for that call to come out a scream. The Batman landed right in front of Ron, his hands grabbed onto Ron's suit shirt and jacket and while already a several inches taller easily lifted Ron as he flailed about.

"WHOA DUDE HOLD ON JUST A SEC-!" Ron's words turned into a holler as the Batman had spun him around once before tossing him back into the smoke. The speed and force of the throw cleared the smoke after. Ron's eyes closed as he was enveloped once more, expecting to crash into the wall, but instead hit something more gelatin. Bullock was slammed in the back by Ron's rag-doll body causing him to stumble forward and land right on top of Gordon's back, all three falling to the ground. Aunt Caryl forced herself into a corner of the hallway coughing with tears in her eyes. Kim fell to one knee before her right eye caught Batman running towards the hallway to their right. Kim finally stood up to look behind to see an incapacitated Ron with a downed Bullock and Gordon underneath him. Kim just looked towards the hallway that Batman ran towards, grinding her teeth with rage. Sure Shego and Killigan have had a few surprises & cheap shots against Ron but they both never murdered, this got way personal. Kim bolted down the hallway, alone. Her legs carrying her as fast as they could to catch up with the masked vigilante. Surprisingly they had to work a bit harder just to keep pace.

Batman just focused on what's ahead. Two more hallways, two right turns and there would be a vent to the roof with a helipad. That's all he needed to do. Suddenly a group of guards who were running towards the source of four gunshots screeched to a halt as they saw the Batman themselves. One guard had dropped his gun, while the other already fired two shots in haste, nowhere near the target. That officer was met with a 360 jump wheel kick to the jaw by Batman. The other officer who had finally picked his gun up correctly had his face grabbed and thrown to the wall so hard it knocked him out cold. Batman took no time to be back at full speed.

Kim rounded the corner to find both officers groaning in pain and unconscious. She jumped over them for all she wanted was to catch this guy. There was a right turn up ahead, and 3 more yelps of pain. By the time Kim made the turn, Batman's fist had hit an officer's face. The sound made by slam was that of thunder. 5 officers down, in under 20 seconds. Kim was used to incapacitated officers by now, Shego did the same. However, unlike Shego to the best of Kim's knowledge, Batman had no superpowers. Another right turn, Kim had used her hand to hold the corner of the wall to round the corner easily, but no Batman was in sight.

"W-What!? That's not Possible, I was just on him!" She growled in anger grabbing her hair and almost pulling it before she remembered Wade. She quickly pulled out the Kimmunicator and started to another Transmission to Wade. The boy genius was just starting to wake up as he was greeted by a rather frantic and agitated Kim.

"Wade I need schematics for the Blackgate prison building in Gotham Harbor."

"Kim seriously? That seems like something you can wait tomorrow for,"

"Wade I need them right now!" Kim hissed

Wade shocked and taken back by the comment immediately began to type away as fast as his fingers could.

"What's got you tweaked?" Sure Kim took that poorly, but when she yells about anything it normally is serious. Wade pressed the 'E' key on his board. Showing Kim a series of maps of the Blackgate prison. Kim looked around one moment to see if there are any significant attributes to the hallway where she was in, there were two. A fork in the hallway where Batman could turn either left or right. And a single ventilation shaft. Kim zoomed in on her position, marked by a green dot. Both of the turns Batman would have taken would lead him to dead ends on either hallway. The Ventilation shaft, on the other hand, had something unique, a straight shot to the roof. Kim thanked Wade and stuffed the Kimmunicator down her pocket.

She jumped up and hung by the grille of the vent shaft. She didn't expect it to be loose at all, as she nearly fell from it giving in to her weight, but thankfully she landed on her feet as both she and the grille fell. This gave it away, Batman must have gone through the vent and placed it back thinking it would trick her. Kim jumped back up and began to crawl down the path of the ventilation shaft the Kimmunicator laid out for her. She didn't really need it, it was a straight shot to the outside helipad.

Batman's foot slammed into the vent grille. Bending and breaking it from its perch, it landing on the ground with a hard 'clang'. His feet landed softly on the ground. Simply walking to one side of the 'H' on the helipad. Batman then noticed the storm that had formed over Gotham and slowly was about to make contact with Blackgate prison. Batman looked to his right pouch on his utility belt, the same pouch that held the USB drive. Giving it a few pats it to make sure its contents were still where he left them. His hand reached for his commlink once more with Alfred waiting patiently on the other line.

"Alfred, I need you to pull up GCPD Database for a moment and filter through everyone's files. Shoe size 11 with a 9-millimeter pistol."

"Master Ben, I'm afraid I'm going to have a very large pool of contestants for that little contest, picking your grand prize winner might be difficult. Is there any more information you could give me?" Alfred asked.

"Loeb's gunshot wound was perfectly clean, the bullet traveled straight. Meaning the shooter's arm was straight mirroring the trajectory of the bullet. With Loeb being only 5'7" in height the shooter had to have been taller than Loeb or his arm was parallel to his head. Add a third filter searching for possible subjects standing between 6" to 6'3" feet tall." Batman knew it was a long shot. The filtered database would come back with a massive amount of results. Batman looked out towards the storm, the lightning bolts flashed and danced across the dark night sky. Only taking 2 seconds for the sound of thunder to ring across the rooftop of Blackgate.

His finger held the button on his head activating the simulation of the crime scene as it replayed in his head. The mystery shooter, the gun against Loeb's head, then his body falling to the ground, the shooter running towards Loeb's left back door. The shoe prints in detective vision were being displayed in white, each print directed towards the door. That same door led to the helipad.

Batman suddenly caught something with his eye. It lay next to an air conditioning unit, stuck between the blades of the fan. It was an officer's cap, the bill prevented the wind from carrying it off into the crashing waves. Batman rushed in to grab it as the bill of the hat gave into the wind. Batman couldn't believe it almost, the final piece of evidence may have just presented itself. The badge of the Gotham City Police Department had been embedded on the front of the hat. With a hat, there is at least one follicle of hair to who the hat belonged to. Batman looked closely to find exactly what he was looking for. A small tiny blonde hair remained at the bottom of the cup of the hat. Batman carefully plucked it and placed it in a small baggy, and placed it in an empty compartment on his utility belt. Batman then started to walk back towards the helipad, continuing the conversation with Alfred. A conversation that won't last long.

"Alfred I've recovered a follicle of hair. I believe it belongs to the murderer of Gillian Loeb. This helicopter pad leads directly to Loeb's office and was the perfect escape route. The murderer's shoe prints even lead to it."

"Well, that was a lucky break. Not to mention a GCPD helicopter did just take off from that position not too long ago. Your suspect is practically within in your grasp should you use the Batwing. Where did you find it?" Alfred asked.

"There was an officers cap up here by the helipad. The only place where the murderer could have gone and fled the scene. However, I don't want to go in blind. When I get back to the Batcave I'll-" There was a sudden 'clang' behind Batman. His fingers dropped from his head cutting the transmission. This 'clang' was generated by a mass landing on sheet metal, the same kind of metal that were components to ventilation shafts and air conditioning units. Batman slowly turned his head over his shoulder to find Kim Possible perched on the same ventilation shaft that Batman had just recently crawled out of. Her long red hair blowing with the wind and her black crop top holding on tight to her upper body. Her brown belt built very similar to Batman's was holding up her sage green baggy cargo that pants hid the condition shape of her legs. Her black gloves matching the fists of Batman's own. Both were locked in on each other's eyes with a scowl, her green eyes piercing his brown, magnetized to one another. But not by a force of attraction.

"Sorry to cut your escape short, but you're not going anywhere, you've got a lot to answer for Batman!" Kim yelled. Her gloved finger pointing to the dark knight, her anger showing as her scowl grew larger and took a quick moment to remember her mental notes on the dark knight. She then somersaulted over to the opposite point of the helipad and landed gracefully on her feet. Batman stood still, taking note of just how perfectly she executed that somersault. He recalled having a bit of trouble when Bruce first taught him. However, that was considered basic training when it comes to what Bruce put him through. Ben couldn't complain, he did ask for it. Kim lowered her arm and began her rant. Her arms speaking along with her plump lips.

"I was actually beginning to enjoy my Thanksgiving Vacation. Sure Loeb treated my Aunt like crap. Sure the police department seemed fishy. Then you came along." She hissed locking eyes back with Batman who continued to show no reaction. Though he was getting a bit annoyed, Kim Possible proved to be a bigger thorn than normal.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but you are out of your league here,"

"And you're out of your mind! So what finally made you do it, what finally made you shoot and kill a man?" Kim hissed.

"When I find the murderer I will have to ask him for you. I'm already about to solve the case."

"I don't believe you for a second. But one thing is for sure, you're not going anywhere!" Kim placed her best foot forward, her gloved fists clenching hard, to her Batman had to be stopped. She couldn't let someone she just saw kill a man go free. Her fists slowly raised to chest height. Her green eyes locked onto the dark gray armored masked man. He shot a man, attacked her best friend and has been causing an enormous amount of stress for her aunt for months now. Black Mask wasn't the problem, It was Batman. Kim could put a stop to all her troubles right here and now. Another lightning bolt danced across the sky. Its light blanketed the both of them for a mere second, another second later thunder roared. Neither blinked.

Batman's patient had been tested, his fists squeezed tightly. Growling and showing teeth as he glared at the teenager. Kimberly Ann Possible, Middleton High cheerleader, saves the world on a daily basis. She has the experience, but what of the discipline?

"So be it." Batman scolded.

They both began to slowly walk to their left with their eyes locked on each other's bodies and positions. Examining footwork, weak points, and calculating strategies as fast as possible. They were waiting as each footstep no matter who it belonged to raised the tension. Like lions challenging one another, the first move was all that was needed to get things going. Kim started to feel that same chilling sensation roll up her spine. She started to have doubts, she knew she was at the disadvantage. This was normal for her, as Shego bared her glowing claws, Monkey Fist always had a squad of monkey ninja's following him, and the Seniors always had nasty tricks up their sleeves thanks to their fat pocketbooks. But this was different. Batman was an unknown element, considered highly trained, quick-witted and armed with gadgets. Kim had to quickly damn theses thoughts to the back of her mind.

Batman gritted his teeth, with every second that is wasted on this, the murderer was slipping between his fingers. Sure he will be easy to track, but it won't take long for a criminal to hide in plain sight with the help of Black Mask. A simple chore would turn into a nightly project and that was something he could not have. He began to remember the special combat training he would always do with Bruce. Sure Ben lost nearly every one-on-one confrontation after training, but Bruce was an invaluable teacher. Calm and focused the Bat was ready. This confrontation had to end quickly. Both knew this and desired it. It was The Dark Knight of Gotham vs The World famous Teen Hero. A step was taken, then another, and another. Then suddenly there was violence.

Kim made the first move, dashing towards the Dark Knight, who responded equally. She jumped performing a front flip as her foot aimed for the chest armor. Batman countered, blocking with his right forearm. His strength outmatched her momentum pushing back forcing Kim to backflip off of her opponent's arm and land back on her feet. She charged right back in throwing left and right hooks. Batman using his arms to parry. The storm moved slowly in on the two combatants. Kim then started to combine a bit of her cheer routine into her fighting. Proving much more nimble and agile as Batman originally predicted. Allowing her a few openings with her legs. A direct blow to Batman's head was delivered. While Kim took pride in that she was able to connect a hit, Batman showed no sign of slowing down. Tipping the fight into his favor once more as Batarangs started to fly towards Kim. Three of them cutting her shirt and skin.

Each one performing amazing acrobatic feats, trading kicks and punches with speed and power. However there was a critical difference, Kim was being blinded by anger. Causing her to leave an opening to her stomach. One heavily exploited by Batman's fist crashing right into her. She winced in pain stepping back, just barely able to block Batman's aerial wheel kick with her arms. The force of the kick pushing her back. Her arms were sore and her bones ached from the impact. Kim just glared back as she wasted no time getting back into the fight. They continued, showing equal skill in combat, neither side giving in. The storm practically overhead. Lightning flashing as they traded more and more blows. But Kim's body ached. Her fists started to throb in pain. They must have been fighting for what must have been four full minutes of non-stop combat. Kim jumped toward batman twirling her body to land a heel kick right on Batman, a rather grave error.

Batman caught her leg, using her momentum against her, threw Kim against the same air conditioning unit he found the officers' cap stuck it. It slightly dented with the force & acceleration of Kim's body. She grunted slightly coughing a bit before barely noticing Batman jumping towards her. Lighting flashed as if on cue, She jumped back, mere moments before a powerful punch was delivered to the ground where she was just laying at. A massive crack and dent in the roof of Blackgate where Batman's fist landed. Kim just returned to her fighting position, however, her back was in intense pain. Batman saw this and pressed a button hiding under the same hand he slammed into the ground with. He stood still. Watching the teen hero get back off her feet taking a much longer time to ready herself. This was all he needed to see, Batman turned his back on Kim walking close to the ledge.

"What's the matter... running away so soon?" Kim huffed. She didn't want to admit it, but she was losing, bad. Her arm was bleeding from one of the Batarangs that were thrown, all back in Batman's respective utility pockets. Her stomach and back ached with pulsating pain, while her legs and arms were burned out. She was breathing heavily. Her pride and anger fueling her fighting spirit. She wanted Batman to strike again. All she got was a sentence.

"I think I've seen enough, you have potential but your sloppy, undisciplined. This game you're playing, this saving the world. It has high stakes higher than you realize. So let me handle Gotham's crime." Batman scorned.

This fight has shown him what Kim was capable of in terms of combat. She knew mantis style, many other forms of kung fu, and has cleverly adapted her cheering skills to get an edge. Kim dropped her fists and turned into claws surprised by his words. Grinding her teeth as she watched the Dark Knight just stare at her. It would have been a miracle for her not to have killed Batman if given the chance.

She ran right towards Batman. In the back of his mind, all it would take was one good hard uppercut, Ben advised something else. He dodged Kim and grabbed the back of her arm. Kim was yanked from her raged filled stupor to realize what she had done. She found herself face first on the ground with one arm being pressed against by Batman's leg. While the other arm was still being held by Batman's hand, his other hand was pinning her head to the pavement, Kim's left cheek was being smothered and struggled viciously but to no avail.

"I will make this crystal clear Kimberly Ann Possible…" Batman growled, taking time to give each word of Kim's name generous time to have her process it. The hand that held down Kim's head was pulled back and balled into a fist. Her nose felt the wind from the punch that crashed in front of her face right before he screamed…

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY!"

Batman jumped and backflipped right onto the ledge that leads to Gotham Harbor's now wild waters. Kim then slowly got up, her fighting spirit demanded her to get back into the fray but her body was showing and telling a different story. Batman just watched as she finally got to her feet, their eyes locked again. Kim had to admit, he was good. One of the toughest opponents she had ever faced. If she was ever going to have a shot at taking Batman down, she may need some assistance or some form of training, she had to get stronger.

Her thoughts were cut short as the sound of a jet engine flying low could be heard close by. A massive black bat shaped jet with its long nose heading straight for the roof of Blackgate emerging from the skies. It swiftly lowered itself right over Batman, a bottom compartment opened to showcase a second way to get inside the cockpit from the bottom. Batman grabbed the silver hand bar that slowly rose up, taking Batman with it. Kim growled only to have sudden gunfire interrupt as Gordon busted through the door leading back to Loeb's office, firing shot after shot. The bullets clipping the armor of the Batwing as the black jet turned to face Gotham City and with the engine's firing at full blast, flew off into the distance. Gordon emptied the magazine of his pistol, outraged by the current events. Though his emotions calmed as he rushed over to aid the defeated Kim.

"You okay?" He asked with his hands on Kim's left shoulder. She just sighed glaring out towards the city which was being attacked by rain.

"I-I'm fine," Kim said to herself silently. She felt the blood of wounds on her arm drip down her skin. Her stomach pulsating with pain.

"Let's get you patched up, your aunt is going to kill me for letting you go alone."

"It's my fault. I thought I could take him down on my own. Batman has had some serious training." Kim sighed to herself. Aunt Caryl will be pissed that Kim thought she could stop Batman head-on by force. Not even thinking about what her mother would say. However, Kim knew one thing. Batman will be a challenge, and she will have to go out of her way to make sure he was brought to justice. Which gave her the perfect idea.


End file.
